Two men, cousins from East Jerusalem, entered a synagogue during prayer with knives, axes, and at least one gun. Four people were murdered and a dozen wounded, several of them seriously.
The attacks came during a tense time. Recently, a Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his bus. The autopsy ruled the death a suicide, but Palestinians, and the Palestinian media, have accused "Jews," though no specific Jews, of a lynching. There is also a great deal of tension around some Israelis' repeated attempts to pray, rather than merely visit, at the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli government continues to forbid praying there, and has been enforcing that limitation. Palestinian media and Hamas have accused Israel of violating the sanctity of the Mosque. Abbas warned of a "holy war" if it is "contaminated" by Jews. Yes, "contaminated."
Four rabbis were murdered. Three of them were born in the US and emigrated to Israel.
Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central committee, described the attack as “a normal reaction to the Israeli oppression.”
A spokesman for Hamas wrote:
The new operation is heroic and a natural reaction to Zionist criminality against our people and our holy places. We have the full right to revenge for the blood of our martyrs in all possible means.
This attack followed a recent round of murders by knife and car. Six people have died in those attacked, including a baby.