“We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took place in Germany today, and our deepest condolences go out to all those affected,” a Twitch spokesperson said after the shooting at a synagogue and a Turkish restaurant.

“Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously. We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or
reposting content of this abhorrent act.”

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• What we know so far about the shooting outside a synagogue in Halle

The news comes months after a deadly New Zealand mosque shooting livestreamed on Facebook, which prompted governments to press social networks to prevent the airing of violent acts on their platforms.

Two people dead

At least two people were shot dead in the German city of Halle on Wednesday in an anti-Semitic attack as Jews marked the holy day of Yom Kippur.

One suspect was arrested, police said, as security was ramped up in synagogues and other Jewish sites across Germany.

In a copy of a 35-minute video obtained by AFP but whose authenticity has not been confirmed by police, the gunman filmed himself launching into a diatribe against women and Jews, before carrying out the attack, in a disturbing repeat of the modus operandi of the attacker in the Christchurch mosque assault earlier this year.

‘The attack started at around noon local time in the city's Humboldtstrasse, which houses the synagogue and Jewish cemetery.

Witnesses reported that a gunman, wearing a helmet mounted with a camera and military-style clothing, attempted to break into the synagogue and then shot a female passerby.

In the video, the gunman speaking in heavily German-accented English launched into a diatribe against Jews, claiming that the Holocaust never existed.

He was then seen trying to force open the synagogue door before shooting a woman dead. He then flung an explosive at the gate of the Jewish cemetery but failed to break it open.

The man was then seen in the footage shooting at a patron of a kebab shop about 600 metres away from the synagogue.

Witness Conrad Rössler earlier told news channel NTV he was in the Turkish kebab shop when “a man wearing a helmet and military uniform” tossed a hand grenade.

“The grenade hit the door and exploded,” he said.

“(The attacker) shot at least once in the shop, the man behind me must be dead. I hid in the toilet and locked the door.”

German anti-terrorist prosecutors confirmed have taken over the case.

The footage has been removed from the Twitch website.