Two Israeli embassy staffers shot dead in DC

WASHINGTON — Two Israeli embassy staffers were killed by a lone gunman in Washington on Wednesday night, and a suspect who chanted pro-Palestine slogans is in custody, officials said.

The two were shot as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, about 2 kilometers from the White House.

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said a man shot at a group of four people with a handgun, hitting both the victims. He was seen pacing outside the museum prior to the shooting.

The victims were a young couple who planned to get married, said Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the United States. The Israeli Foreign Ministry named them as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, chanted "Free Palestine, Free Palestine" after being taken into custody, Smith said.

"After the shooting, the suspect entered the museum and was detained by event security," she said. "Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offense."

The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added.

US President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. "These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, now!" he wrote on Truth Social. "Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his heart ached for the families of the victims, "whose lives were cut short by a heinous antisemitic murderer".

Security would be stepped up at Israeli embassies around the world, he said.

Polarized debate

The shooting is certain to further convulse the US debate over the conflict in Gaza, which has polarized steadfast supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, Reuters commented.

Conservative Israel supporters led by Trump have branded pro-Palestinian demonstrators as antisemitic.

Trump has cut off funding to elite US universities that he says have permitted antisemitic demonstrations, and his administration has detained foreign student demonstrators without charges.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro went to the scene after the shooting.

The event at the Capital Jewish Museum was organized by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that supports Israel and confronts antisemitism, according to its website.

An online invitation to the event called it the Young Diplomats Reception, describing it as a bringing together of Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45 and the Washington diplomatic community.

Agencies via Xinhua