Ramallah: In what was viewed as a response to the Sunday death of bus driver Yousuf Hassan Al Ramouni and a response to “ongoing Israeli crimes at Al Haram Al Sharif,” four Israeli colonists were killed on Tuesday in an attack at the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in the western Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Nof.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said it carried out the attack.
“We declare full responsibility of the PFLP for the execution of this heroic operation conducted by our heroes this morning in Jerusalem,” said Hani Thawbta, a PFLP leader in Gaza.
The attack was carried out by two related men, 22-year-old Gassan and 25-year-old Uday Abu Al Jamal, from the area of Nazlat Al Madares of Jabal Al Mukaber of occupied East Jerusalem. Both men were killed at the site by Israeli police.
A statement by police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that two policemen were among the injured. Palestinian sources said that three of the injured Israelis were clinically dead, but the Israeli authorities usually release their information in a staged manner.
Samri said that Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem entered the synagogue with knives, axes and guns and attacked worshippers at 6.30am.
In a statement, Hamas said: “The Hamas organisation calls for the continuation of acts of revenge.”
Sources in the occupied East Jerusalem told Gulf News that Gassan and Uday Abu Al Jamal are believed to have acted on their own.
Their partner in the attack — their driver — is still at large and sources confirmed that there was heavy exchange of fire between Israeli security forces and the third attacker.
Sources said that the third partner is also believed to be a relative or a close friend. According to these sources, residents in the area where the dead men lived said that the attackers had been living by themselves and did not mingle with the public.
Gulf News sources said that Gassan and Uday worked for a cleaning company and that the synagogue that they chose as a target was close to their area. The sources claimed the men would have known the synagogue well, given the nature of their work that enabled them to enter different institutions and facilities in occupied Jerusalem.
The two attackers are believed to have been bachelors and have acted in defence of all Palestinians and all the Jerusalemites. Gulf News was told that the three acted after they reached the conclusion that life in occupied Jerusalem is not bearable and that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are under serious threat from Israelis. “The trio had no other choice to manifest their anger, depression, disappointment and frustration,” the sources said.
Eight other Israelis were injured in the attack — four with serious injuries, two with moderate wounds and two lightly.
The synagogue attack is the latest in a string of incidents between Palestinians and Israelis. Tensions between the groups have increased in recent months, particularly over the issue of control of and access to Al Haram Al Sharif.
On Sunday, a Palestinian bus driver was found dead in his bus and his family maintained it was murder. However, early on Tuesday, Israeli Police Foreign Press Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on twitter that the autopsy of the driver found no evidence of criminal activity. In occupied East Jerusalem, Israelis usually claim that Palestinian victims have committed suicide and claim that colonists who commit suicide have in fact been murdered by Palestinians.
