Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on November 18, 2014

Jerusalem synagogue attacked

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Two suspected Palestinian men armed with axes and knives killed four people in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, Israeli police and emergency services said, the deadliest such attack in the city in years.

The attack took place shortly after dawn in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of West Jerusalem. Pictures posted by an Israeli army spokesman on the Internet showed a man in a Jewish prayer shawl lying dead, a bloodied butcher's cleaver discarded on the floor and overturned prayer tables.

"We are viewing this as a terrorist attack," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Israel's ambulance service said at least eight people were seriously wounded.

Ronen Zvulun/REUTERS Israeli police officers hold weapons near the scene of an attack at a Jerusalem synagogue, Nov. 18, 2014.

Police said at least one of the assailants was from East Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian side of the city.

Palestinian radio reports described the attackers as "martyrs" and the Islamist group Hamas praised the attack. Loudspeakers at mosques in Gaza called out congratulations.

"Hamas calls for the continuation of revenge operations and stresses that the Israeli occupation bears responsibility for tension in Jerusalem," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the attack on both Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who he accused of urging Palestinians towards violence.

Ronen Zvulun/REUTERS Israeli security personnel run next to a synagogue, where a suspected Palestinian attack took place, in Jerusalem, November 18, 2014. Up to five people were killed on Tuesday in the attack by two men armed with axes and knives, Israeli media reported.

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Four dead in suspected Palestinian attack on Jerusalem synagogue

Category: Synagogue
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