Assailants brutalize Israeli synagogue during morning prayers

Blood-soaked prayer shawls and prayer books lay strewn in an Israeli synagogue this morning after two Palestinians attacked worshipers with a gun and meat cleavers. The attackers, who were slain in a shootout with police, killed four people and wounded six others, police said. The four people who died included three Americans and one Briton, all of whom held dual Israeli citizenship.

The attack happened in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that is home to many English-speaking immigrants. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both condemned the violence. Police identified the perpetrators as Ghassan and Oday Abu Jamal, two cousins from East Jerusalem. They belonged to The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant group that has not said whether it ordered the attack.

Hamas, a Palestinian group that condones terrorism and dominates the Gaza Strip, celebrated the attack. People in Gaza took to the streets waving Hamas flags. In one place, revelers carried around full trays of candy.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu vowed to respond harshly to the violence, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced it as an “act of pure terror and senseless brutality and violence.” The FBI will be involved in investigating the attacks because Americans were killed.

According to local reports, police descended on the attackers’ home shortly after the attacks and arrested 14 members of the Abu Jamal family. Some area residents tried to fight back police by throwing stones.

Recent weeks have seen a rash of attacks on Israelis. Six people died in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Tel Aviv in violence leading up to today’s assault on the synagogue. Kerry blamed the attack on Palestinian propaganda calling for “days of rage.” Israeli authorities believe the attackers planned today’s violence in isolation without the assistance of a larger militant organization.

“These are individuals who decide to do horrible acts. It’s very hard to know ahead of time about every such incident,” police chief Yohanan Danino told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.