By Julia Camara | Echo
Two Palestinians attacked a synagogue in West Jerusalem on Tuesday, killing four rabbis with meat cleavers and a gun before they were shot dead by Israeli police officers.
Three of the four murdered were dual citizens of the U.S. and Israel, reported Reuters. A group of about 25 people were in the synagogue when the attack occurred. Police stormed in and killed the two assailants.
A BBC News video explained that immediately after the attack, Israeli anger loomed over the city, while anxiety plagues Palestinians over how Israel will retaliate. Tuesday's attack is Jerusalem's most deadly in six years.
The bloody intrusion takes place after weeks of unrest in the West Bank in dispute over the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Muslims call the sacred site the Noble Sanctuary, whileIsraelis refer to it as the Temple Mount where two biblical temples once stood, according to Reuters.
Reuters also reported that Yosef Posternak, a worshiper present during the shooting at the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue, said the people were praying when gunfire broke out.
"I looked up and saw someone shooting people at point-blank range. Then someone came in with what looked like a butcher's knife and he went wild," said Posternak.
Leaders in Jerusalem and the U.S. are condemning the attack, beginning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in the city, deeming him responsible for the deluge of recent attacks, including Tuesday's slaughter, reported BBC News.
"As a nation we will settle the score with every terrorist and their dispatchers . . . but no one may take the law into their own hands, even if spirits are riled and blood is boiling," Netanyahu said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Netanyahu has since ordered the homes of the attackers destroyed.
Reuters reported that Obama strongly condemned the terrorist attack, which killed three U.S. citizens.
Jeremy Bowen, the Middle East editor of BBC News, said the two sides (Israelis and Palestinians) couldn't be further apart. Since Israel seized the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem in 1967, the former disputes over possession of land are now driven largely by religion. Bowen suspects this is why the Palestinians chose to attack a synagogue.
According to Yahoo News, Israel's response could increase the tension between both groups to a dangerous level. According to Daniel Nisman, a political and security analyst, a bigger deployment of border police in Jerusalem is on its way. To stop Palestinian attacks, Nisman suggested closing East Jerusalem neighborhoods. He did acknowledge that doing so could further escalate tension amongst the people there. Nisman also said Israel may respond by deploying the army in the annexed East Jerusalem, but nothing has been decided yet.
