Five Killed in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

Four rabbis were shot to death in the middle of their morning prayers by two Palestinians in West Jerusalem on Tuesday morning said the Israeli police.

The assailants were killed shortly after in a gun battle with the police, wounding one officer and killing another. Tuesday’s attack was one of the deadliest in Jerusalem in the last six years. There were approximately 25 worshippers in the synagogue among which seven were seriously wounded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has ordered for the attackers homes to be destroyed. He has vowed to “respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray, and were eliminated by despicable murderers,” according to the New York Times.

The attackers were identified as two cousins, Odai Abed Abu Jamal, 22, and Ghassan Muhammad Abu Jamal, 32. They were said to be motivated by what many Palestinians believe Israel is preparing for — to allow Jews to pray in the third holiest site for Muslims after Mecca and Medina, the compound of al-Aqsa mosque.

The Israeli government deny such allegations, but Palestinians continue to listen to calls from the Jew nationalists and believe it might happen.

President Obama issued a comment condemning the attack on the synagogue stating that, “Too many Israelis have died, too many Palestinians have died. And at this difficult time, I think it’s important for both Palestinians and Israelis to work together to lower tensions and reject violence,” as reported by CNN.

According to BBC News, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbos also issued a condemnation of “the attack on Jewish worshippers in their place of prayer and [of] the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it,” in which the Mr. Netanyahu said was not enough.