The Israeli staff of the embassy shot in DC: What we know about attackers, victim | Israel-Palestine conflict news

Two employees of the Israeli embassy in the United States were shot on Wednesday evening when they left a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, which outraged the US and Israeli officials.

A 31-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois, who is called Elias Rodriguez, was arrested and charged with murder. On Thursday he was published in Washington, DC, because of his indictment. A preliminary hearing was determined for June 18. Rodriguez is the only suspect.

President Donald Trump condemned the shootout as “terrible” and explained that there was no place for “hate” in the USA. Isaac Herzog, Israeli President, said that he was “destroyed” of what had unfolded in the US capital.

“This is a detention -worthy hate act of anti -Semitism that claims the life of two young employees of the Israeli embassy,” he said.

Kristi Noem, secretary for home protection, said the federal authorities examined the incident and would put his “spoiled perpetrator” to court. Jeanine Pirro, the preliminary US lawyer of Washington, DC, said the murders were examined as “hate crimes and crimes of terrorism”.

Here is what we know so far:

What is known about the shootout?

The officers answered several calls about a shootout near the Capital Jewish Museum around 9 p.m. (Thursday at 01:00 a.m.).

The victims, a man and a woman, left an event in the museum, which is located in the area of ​​the 3rd and f roads in the northwest of Washington, DC, near an FBI field office and the US Attorney General.

First aiders found the victims passed out and did not breathe. Despite life -saving efforts, both were declared dead.

According to the police, the suspect entered the museum after the shootout and was arrested by security personnel at the event.

“Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he lay out the gun and that this weapon was recovered, and he implied that he committed the crime,” said Smith.

What do we know about the victims?

The two were named by the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, when Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

Lischinsky was Israeli. A German diplomatic source informed the AFP news agency that Lischinsky also had a German passport.

Milgrim was an American citizen. Both worked at the Israeli message.

The Israeli ambassador in the United States, Yechiel Head, said reporters that the young employees were a couple who are “engaged”.

“The young man bought a ring this week to suggest his girlfriend in Jerusalem next week,” said Head.

What do we know about the suspect Elias Rodriguez?

The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois. After his arrest, his home was searched by the police.

Rodriguez was charged with two murder cases that caused death with a firearm and unloads a firearm in a violent crime.

Jeanine Pirro, the preliminary US lawyer, who recently appointed President Donald Trump as a federal prosecutor in Washington, said reporters that the indictment against Ridriguez was a “death penalty for the death penalty”.

“We will continue to examine this as hate crimes and as a crime of terrorism,” said Pirro.

Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro reported that the suspect was not previously on the radar of the local authorities.

“He was not a well -known unit. There was no elevated alarm before this case,” she said.

What do we know about the motif of the suspect?

So far, the police have not confirmed a motif.

Foreign Minister of Israel on Thursday, Gideon Saar, has accused a “poisonous anti -Semitic asset against Israel and Jews around the world since the attack on Israel led by Hamas in October 2023”.

When the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, was taken into custody, he began to sing: “Free, free Palestine,” said police chief Smith.

Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said that the attacks were “terrible” and rightly convicted, regardless of political ideology.

He said: “You have the Trump administration, Israel and some of your followers and say that this is an act of anti-Semitism … and that could be the case that it is only an act of naked anti-Jewish hate that should obviously be convicted,” Elmasry told Al Jazera.

“But it is also possible that Mr. Rodriguez carried this act of wax vision against the state of Israel or that he takes out his frustrations about the genocide [in Gaza] Or Israel's apartheid policy for these embassy employees. This is an important distinction, because if that is the motif, it requires a different approach. “

What was the reaction to the shootout?

“These terrible DC murders, which are obviously based on anti -Semitism, now have to end!” President Trump released on social media early Thursday.

“Hate and radicalism have no place in the United States. Sour of condolence to the families of the victims. So sad that things like that can happen! God bless you all!”

Later Trump's press spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed the outrage of the president and warned of poor consequences.

“The evil of anti -Semitism must be removed from our society,” she said. “The Ministry of Justice will pursue the perpetrator, who is fully responsible for this.”

It also connected the shootout on Trump's approach to anti -Semitism, which largely focused on protesting the anti -war war disease against Israel's war against Gaza.

“Foreign Minister Marco Rubio revoked thousands of student visa from locations in which these agitators of the Pro-Hamas terrorist and violent protests took place,” said Leavitt.

“We have also held back the financing of these different locations to combat anti -Semitism. Therefore, the president made it very clear that such a hatred in our country will not have any space.”

The Israeli officials also expressly condemned the incident and described him as a “detention of detention of hate”. After the shootout, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are experiencing the terrible price of anti -Semitism and the wild incitement against the state of Israel.

“I have instructed the security agreements to improve Israeli missions around the world and increase protection for state representatives,” said Netanyahu.

Reactions and condolences from other countries also flocked on Thursday.

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the shootout in a post on X a “hideous act” and added that at the moment “we have to assume that there was an anti -Semitic motive”.

Kaja Kallas, the EU head of foreign policy, said: “Shocked by the shootout of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC. There is and should not give a place in our societies for hate, extremism or anti -Semitism.

In the United Kingdom, Foreign Minister David Lammy said: “horrified about the murder of two Israeli embassy employees in DC. We condemn this horrific, anti -Semitic crime. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and colleagues in this terrible time.”

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: “The murder of two members of the Israeli message near the Jewish Museum in Washington is a hideous act of anti-Semitic barbarism. Nothing can justify such violence. My thoughts go to their loved ones, their colleagues and the state of Israel.”

In Ireland, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said: “I condemn the terrible weapon attack, in which two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC were killed last night. My deepest sympathy goes to the family and friends of the couple and the Israeli people. There can be no place for violence or hatred.”

Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, said: “I stand with the state of Israel for the tragic murder of two young employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington.

What was the suspect charged?

On Thursday, the public prosecutor's office announced an opening of charges against the suspect Rodriguez, with the promise to present more.

Rodriguez was charged with the first degree murder, foreign civil servants murdered, caused death with a firearm and a firearm released in a violent crime.

Pirro, a former moderator of Fox News, which Trump recently appointed the District of Columbia as a preliminary US lawyer, said Rodriguez can file further charges for further charges in the coming days.

“This is a terrible crime, and these crimes are not tolerated by me and this office,” said Pirro. “We will continue to investigate this as hate crimes and as a crime of terrorism, and we will increase additional charges if the evidence is guaranteed.”

What will happen next?

Studies remain in the background and the motifs of Rodriguez. The police cordoned off from his house in Chicago, Illinois, while their investigation continues.

Police chief Smith Smith said that the law enforcement authorities had not believed that there is currently a continuing threat to the community.

The FBI director Kash Patel said that he and his team were informed about the shootout.

“While we work [the Metropolitan Police Department] If you react immediately and learn more, please pray for the victims and their families, ”he wrote about X.

Washington, Mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, said reporters said that her government would not tolerate “violence or hatred in our city”.

“We will not tolerate terrorist files, and we will be together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send a clear message that we will not tolerate anti -Semitism,” said Bowser.

At the Atlantic in France, the interior minister of the state asked the police to “increase surveillance in places associated with the Jewish community”. Security measures must be “visible and decreasing”, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in a message from the AFP news agency.

Saar said that the Israeli flags at the ministry headquarters and missions all over the world flown to the half mast on Thursday.

The shootout takes place when Israel launched a new military campaign in Gaza to control the entire strip and at the same time impose a generally convicted auxiliary blocking with 11 weeks.

Many leaders of the world, including allies, have demanded that Israel end the war and help the war zone or suspended punishment.