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.

一名巴勒斯坦枪手星期四晚间在耶路撒冷一个犹太教神学院的图书馆开枪打死8人。这次枪击事件发生时恰逢该地区局势高度紧张，一个星期以来加沙地带一直在发生冲突。

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.

目击者说，这名枪手进入莫卡兹.哈拉维神学院的图书馆，并向房间里的80多人开枪。当时这些人正在为即将到来的一个犹太教节日做准备。惊惶失措的学生开始跳出窗户，枪击持续了几分钟之久。

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

以色列警方发言人罗森费尔德说，袭击者使用的武器是一支卡拉什尼科夫步枪，枪手被当场打死。

"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.

他说：“我现在可以说的是，袭击者是从大门进入学校的，然后穿过学校的入口，并向一些学生开枪，然后凶手本人在图书馆门口被击中，并且当场死亡。”

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

警方查明枪手是东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.

持温和态度的巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿巴斯谴责了这起袭击事件。然而，控制加沙地带的哈马斯激进组织发表的声明赞扬了这起袭击，说这不会是最后一次。以色列外交部的发言人说，发动这次袭击是为了破坏和平谈判，但是他说，谈判将会继续。

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

在华盛顿，美国国务院谴责这次枪击是“恐怖行动”，并对死难者的家属表示哀悼。

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

以色列总理奥尔默特的发言人瑞格夫说，类似星期四晚间发生的恐怖袭击无助于和平进程。

"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."

他说：“就像我的祖国和我国政府非常希望推动与巴勒斯坦方面的和平进程一样，在推动和平方面哈马斯和其他极端分子是最大问题。只要人们不站出来反对这种极端主义、仇恨情绪和流血行动，就不会有和平进程。”

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.

这次枪击事件发生时，加沙地带局势紧张。过去一个星期来，以色列部队展开军事行动，反击向以色列南部发射火箭的巴勒斯坦激进分子，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.

美国国务卿赖斯星期三刚刚结束对这个地区的访问，她说服温和派的巴勒斯坦权力机构主席阿巴斯同意回到谈判桌前和以色列人举行和谈。此前，阿巴斯因为加沙局势中止了和谈。

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.

星期四的攻击目标看来是经过认真选择的。莫卡兹.哈拉维神学院和犹太人在约旦河西岸的定居点有密切的关系，很多定居者的领导人都在那里学习过。目击者说，神学院的很多学生是现役军人，并且携带武器。攻击者就是被一名学生打死的，这名学生的行动可能拯救了很多人的生命。