Uday Abu Jamal and Ghassan Abu Jamal, Two Palestinian attackers kill 4 rabbis at synagogue
Four rabbis have been killed and at least 8 wounded when two Palestinian assailants attacked worshipers with knives, axes and a pistol in a synagogue in North Jerusalem Tuesday morning. Israeli police are describing the incident as a “terrorist attack, says spokeswoman Luba Samri.
The suspects have been named as Uday Abu Jamal and Ghassan Abu Jamal, from East Jerusalem, and were both members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility, Samri confirmed.
Israel’s Public Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, has said that gun controls for self-defense will be eased in wake of the attack.
“In the coming hours, I will ease controls on carrying weapons,” he said in comments broadcast on public radio.
He added that the new rules will apply to anyone who owns a gun license, such as private security guards and off duty army officers. Israeli police have confirmed four people have died in the incident and eight have been wounded, four seriously, two moderately and two lightly.
All four of the victims were rabbis and one of them, Moshe Twersky,was the head of the English speaking Yeshiva Toras Moshe, an institution for religious studies, in Jerusalem. Another of the victims was a British-Israeli national, according to the UK’s Foreign Office.
“We are aware of the death of a dual British-Israeli national in Israel on 18 November 2014,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The other three were US citizens, according to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld
The FBI has said it will open an investigation into the attack as three of the victims were US citizens.
Update Israel: Synagogue at 5 Agassi Street in Har Nof area of Jerusalem. Some Photos of the Shooting scene. pic.twitter.com/6f7qNaKRk0
— Worldwide Actions (@AlwaysActions) November 18, 2014