Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy were shot dead outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Wednesday night.

The two victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the museum when the 30-year-old suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told a news conference.

The suspect, who has been identified as Elias R. from Chicago, was detained by event security, Smith said, adding that he was not previously known to police. 

When he was taken into custody, the man began chanting, "free, free Palestine," Smith said.

Authorities believe the suspect acted alone, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi told Fox News.

How have Israeli leaders reacted?

The attack comes amid rising international condemnation of Israel's military campaign in Gaza. 

Antisemitic incidents have dramatically increased since the war in the Palestinian enclave began in October 2023.

In a statement, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday night's attack was "the terrible price of antisemitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel."

"My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman, whose lives were abruptly cut short by a despicable antisemitic terrorist," he said.

Netanyahu added that he has ordered "security agencies to strengthen the protection arrangements for Israel's representations worldwide and to raise the level of security for all the state's emissaries."

Later on Thursday, Netanyahu also spoke with US President Donald Trump about the shooting as well as the situation in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there is "a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder."

Saar added that leaders from many countries and international organizations, "especially from Europe," were responsible for this "incitement." 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was "devastated" by the scenes in Washington. 

"This is a despicable act of hatred, of antisemitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy," he said in a statement, adding: "We stand with the Jewish community in DC and across the US. America and Israel will stand united in defense of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us."

Who were the victims?

Israel's ambassador to the US said the two victims had been a couple. They were identified by Israel's Foreign Ministry as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

German diplomatic sources said Lischinsky held German citizenship. According to the German-Israeli Society (DIG), he was originally from Germany and grew up partly in Bavaria. 

Lischinsky had been a founding member of the Israel-Germany Youth Forum and took a post at the Israeli embassy in Washington in 2022, the DIG said.

US vows to punish those responsible for the fatal shooting

US President Donald Trump also condemned the killings. "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!" he posted on his Truth Social platform. "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said authorities would "track down those responsible" for the fatal shooting. "This was a brazen act of cowardly, antisemitic violence. Make no mistake: we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice," he posted on X.

US Attorney General Bondi posted on X: "I am on the scene of the horrible shooting outside the Washington, DC Capital Jewish Museum. Praying for the victims of this violence as we work to learn more."

The director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, called the fatal shooting an "act of terror" and said it has " the full attention of the FBI."

Europe condemns shooting

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned the shooting, calling it "a despicable act."

Posting on X, Merz said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and added that "at the moment we must assume there was an antisemitic motive."

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany has said his heart was "torn apart" by the killings. Council President Josef Schuster said the attack confirmed fears shared during a recent visit to Israel.

"Just one day later, this has been confirmed in the most tragic way," Schuster said. "The rise in political and antisemitic violence, even in Western societies, is shocking and threatening."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said she is "shocked" by the shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington that killed two Israeli embassy staffers.

"There is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or antisemitism. I extend my condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Israel," Kallas wrote on X.

Edited by: Kieran Burke