A Palestinian gunman shot and killed eight people inside the library of a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem late Thursday. The attack comes as tensions are high in the region after a week of violence in the Gaza Strip.

一名巴勒斯坦槍手星期四晚間在耶路撒冷一個猶太教神學(xué)院的圖書館開槍打死8人。這次槍擊事件發(fā)生時恰逢該地區(qū)局勢高度緊張，一個星期以來加沙地帶一直在發(fā)生沖突。

Witnesses say the gunman entered the library of the Merkaz Harav seminary and opened fire on about 80 people in the room who were preparing for an upcoming Jewish religious holiday. Panicked students began jumping out of windows and the shooting continued for several minutes.

目擊者說，這名槍手進入莫卡茲.哈拉維神學(xué)院的圖書館，并向房間里的80多人開槍。當(dāng)時這些人正在為即將到來的一個猶太教節(jié)日做準(zhǔn)備。驚惶失措的學(xué)生開始跳出窗戶，槍擊持續(xù)了幾分鐘之久。

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld says the attacker was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and was killed on the scene.

以色列警方發(fā)言人羅森費爾德說，襲擊者使用的武器是一支卡拉什尼科夫步槍，槍手被當(dāng)場打死。

"What I can say is that the attacker entered the main gate of the school, went through the entrance of the schools, opened fire on a number of students and then was himself shot and killed at the entrance to the library," said Rosenfeld.

他說：“我現(xiàn)在可以說的是，襲擊者是從大門進入學(xué)校的，然后穿過學(xué)校的入口，并向一些學(xué)生開槍，然后兇手本人在圖書館門口被擊中，并且當(dāng)場死亡。”

Police have identified the gunman as a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem.

警方查明槍手是東耶路撒冷的巴勒斯坦居民。

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack. However, a statement from the ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip praised the attack, saying it would not be the last. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry says the attack was designed to derail peace talks, but he says the talks will continue.

持溫和態(tài)度的巴勒斯坦民族權(quán)力機構(gòu)主席阿巴斯譴責(zé)了這起襲擊事件。然而，控制加沙地帶的哈馬斯激進組織發(fā)表的聲明贊揚了這起襲擊，說這不會是最后一次。以色列外交部的發(fā)言人說，發(fā)動這次襲擊是為了破壞和平談判，但是他說，談判將會繼續(xù)。

In Washington, the U.S. State Department condemned the shooting as an "act of terror" and extended condolences to the victims' families.

在華盛頓，美國國務(wù)院譴責(zé)這次槍擊是“恐怖行動”，并對死難者的家屬表示哀悼。

Mark Regev a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says terrorist attacks like the one Thursday evening do not help the peace process.

以色列總理奧爾默特的發(fā)言人瑞格夫說，類似星期四晚間發(fā)生的恐怖襲擊無助于和平進程。

"As much as my country and my government wants to move forward in peace with Palestinians, Hamas and the other extremists are the greatest single problem in moving forward in peace," said Regev. "There cannot be a peace process as long as people do not stand up and oppose this sort of extremism, hatred and bloodshed."

他說：“就像我的祖國和我國政府非常希望推動與巴勒斯坦方面的和平進程一樣，在推動和平方面哈馬斯和其他極端分子是最大問題。只要人們不站出來反對這種極端主義、仇恨情緒和流血行動，就不會有和平進程。”

The attack comes as tensions are high in the Palestinian territories following a week of intense violence in the Gaza Strip where more than 120 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces over the past week in operations against Palestinian militants firing rockets at southern Israel.

這次槍擊事件發(fā)生時，加沙地帶局勢緊張。過去一個星期來，以色列部隊展開軍事行動，反擊向以色列南部發(fā)射火箭的巴勒斯坦激進分子，打死120多名巴勒斯坦人。

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended a visit to the region on Wednesday by getting moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel that he had suspended because of the situation in Gaza.

美國國務(wù)卿賴斯星期三剛剛結(jié)束對這個地區(qū)的訪問，她說服溫和派的巴勒斯坦權(quán)力機構(gòu)主席阿巴斯同意回到談判桌前和以色列人舉行和談。此前，阿巴斯因為加沙局勢中止了和談。

Thursday's attack appeared to be carefully targeted. The Merkaz Harav seminary is closely linked with the Jewish settler movement in the West Bank, and many settler leaders have studied there. Witnesses say many of the students at the seminary are on active military duty and are armed, and that the attacker was killed by such a student, possibly saving the lives of many others.

星期四的攻擊目標(biāo)看來是經(jīng)過認真選擇的。莫卡茲.哈拉維神學(xué)院和猶太人在約旦河西岸的定居點有密切的關(guān)系，很多定居者的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人都在那里學(xué)習(xí)過。目擊者說，神學(xué)院的很多學(xué)生是現(xiàn)役軍人，并且攜帶武器。攻擊者就是被一名學(xué)生打死的，這名學(xué)生的行動可能拯救了很多人的生命。