In a brutal attack, two Palestinians wielding axes, knives and guns today stormed a synagogue here and killed four worshippers, including three Americans, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vow a "harsh response" to the murders.
"Two terrorists entered the synagogue in the neighbourhood of Har Nof. They attacked with an axe, a knife and a gun. Four worshippers were killed. The police who arrived at the scene shot and killed the two terrorists," Israel Police spokesperson Luba Samri, said.
All the four victims of the deadly attack were Israelis with dual nationality, three of whom were Americans and a fourth British, Israeli police said.
"Regarding citizenship, there were three Americans and the fourth was British," Samri said.
The attack began shortly before 7 am (local time) as worshippers were attending prayers at a synagogue in a Jewish seminary in the Har Nof neighbourhood.
At least eight people were wounded in the attack, including two police personnel. The injured were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem. Four of them are in a serious condition.
"I tried to escape. The man with the knife approached me. There was a chair and table between us. My prayer shawl got caught. I left it there and escaped," Yossi, who was praying at the synagogue at the time of the attack, told Channel 2 TV.
Images from the aftermath of the brutal attack showed prayer shawls lying on the floor in pools of blood.
"This is an area with a number of rooms," rescue services spokesman Zaki Heller said.
"The wounded were scattered throughout different rooms and the paramedics who arrived at the scene dispersed to deliver first aid. The wounded were quickly evacuated by ambulance to hospital," Heller said.
Netanyahu described the attack as a "cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers".
The Israeli Premier said the attack was the result of incitement by Hamas militants and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which the world had ignored.
Netanyahu also ordered the demolition of homes of Palestinians involved in other recent deadly attacks.
Palestinian sources named the attackers as Rassan and Uday Abu-Jamal, relatives from the Jabel Mukaber neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
Obama strongly condemned the horrific attack, saying, "There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians."
Obama identified the three Israeli-Americans who died in the as Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine and Mosheh Twersky.
