Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank openly celebrated the Tuesday morning massacre of four Jewish rabbis in a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Ghassan Abu Jamal and his cousin Udayy, from the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem, entered the synagogue armed with a gun, axes, and knives.
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Har Nof is a Haredi enclave well inside the 1967 green line.
The four victims were Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Kollel Dean at the Torat Moshe yeshiva; Rabbi Kalman Levine, Aryeh Kupinsky, and Avraham Shmuel Goldberg.
All four victims held dual citizenship, three American and the fourth British.
Hamas hailed the attack as a fitting revenge for the supposed killing of an Arab bus driver in Jerusalem Monday, a death that was ruled a suicide after an autopsy.
Hamas official Mushir al-Masri promptly posted on Twitter a revolting political cartoon hailing the “heroic” synagogue attack.
The Islamic Jihad said it “salutes the operation in Jerusalem which is a natural response to the crimes of the occupier.”
Only Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement firmly condemning the murder.
Meanwhile, Israeli police on Tuesday detained 12 relatives of the two terrorists. They are suspected of lending their support to the attack.
The family of the murderers told ma’an that Israeli forces raided their homes following the attack and detained 12 family members, including Abu Jamal’s wife, mother, and brothers Munther, Jamal, Imade, Murad, and Muawiya. The brother of Udayy, Mutaza, was also detained.
The following timeline was offered by Reuters:
Over the past several weeks, tension and violence have risen steadily in Jerusalem, culminating in Tuesday’s attack on a synagogue in which four worshippers were shot and knifed to death by Palestinians assailants.
Following is an overview of major incidents in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the occupied West Bank since June, when three Israeli seminary students were killed by Palestinian assailants, an attack later claimed by Hamas.
June 13 – Three Israeli teenagers abducted and killed while hitchhiking in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Islamist group Hamas later claims responsibility.
July 2 – Palestinian teenager seized in Jerusalem and later burned to death by Jewish assailants in suspected revenge attack.
July 8 to Aug 26 – Conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with more than 2, 100 Palestinians and 70 Israelis killed.
Aug 4 – Palestinian worker used a construction vehicle to attack pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing one. Palestinian shot dead by police.
Sept 9 – Clashes in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem following the death of a Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli police during protests the week before.
Sept-Oct – Tension in Jerusalem grows over access to the city’s holiest site, known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and Jews as Temple Mount. Almost nightly rioting ensues in Palestinian districts across the east of the city.
Oct 13 – Heavy clashes erupt on Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters angry at Jewish worshippers visiting the site in increasing numbers.
Oct 22 – Palestinian driver rams his car into people waiting at a Jerusalem light-rail stop, killing two Israelis, including a three-month-old baby. Driver shot dead by police.
Oct 29 – Yehuda Glick, a far-right Israeli activist campaigning for Jews to be allowed to pray at Temple Mount, shot and wounded by a Palestinian. Gunman killed by police.
Nov 5 – Palestinian driver runs into people waiting at another light-rail stop in Jerusalem, killing two people. Driver shot dead by police.
Nov 8 – Israeli police shoot dead a Palestinian brandishing a knife in an incident captured on closed-circuit television.
Nov 10 – Israeli soldier stabbed and killed by a Palestinian attacker near a railway station in Tel Aviv. Attacker shot dead by police.
Nov 10 – Israeli woman run down and stabbed to death at West Bank hitchhiking spot by Palestinian driver. Attacker shot dead by police.
Nov 18 – Four worshippers shot and knifed to death in a synagogue in Jerusalem. Three of the victims held dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and the fourth man was a British-Israeli national. Two Palestinian assailants shot and killed by police.
