Jewish Synagogue Attacked in Broad Daylight

Four People Killed by Meat Cleaver

Raphael Verelst (News Editor)

Early morning on Tuesday 18th, Jews praying at a Jerusalem synagogue were attacked by two Palestinian men, cousins according to some sources. The pair, armed with meat cleavers as weapons, sliced through five men, killing four and severely wounding one.

The men killed were three Americans and one Briton, according to CTV News. The U.S. Secretary of State is said to have spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who both decried the attack. The latter said that the attack was “a cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers”. Later, he ordered the homes of the attackers bulldozed, as well as those belonging to perpetrators of other recent attacks against Israeli territory.

CTV News cites that “the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small militant group, said the cousins were among its members, though it did not say whether it had instructed them to carry out the attack.” Israel’s police chief, however, believes that “Tuesday’s attack was likely not organized by militant groups, making it more difficult for security forces to prevent the violence.”

This attack is believed to be part of a larger string of attacks which, previous to Tuesday’s massacre, had taken the lives of six people in major cities throughout Israel.