UAE slams shooting incidents in Washington and Jenin

Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said.

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The stunning attack on Wednesday evening prompted Israeli missions to beef up their security and lower their flags to half-staff.

The two people killed, identified as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American, were a young couple about to be engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US.

The couple were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect, who had been seen pacing outside the museum, approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.

The UAE has strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the killing of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington DC, and expressed its strong denunciation of these criminal acts.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) expressed its sincere condolences, sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims, and with the people of Israel over this heinous attack.

The gunman, identified by police as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, then walked into the museum, was detained by event security and began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said.

“These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Donald Trump posted on social media early Thursday.

“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”