4 Israelis dead in synagogue attack

Palestinian leader condemns killing; Netanyahu vows to 'respond harshly'

A Palestinian left-wing group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said on Tuesday that two of its members were responsible for the deadly synagogue attack in West Jerusalem earlier in the day.

Four Israelis were killed and eight injured in a militant attack at a synagogue in west Jerusalem on Tuesday, police said.

The PFLP said in an e-mailed news statement that the two attackers are members of the group, and that "the attack was a natural response to the Israeli attacks on Jerusalem and on the Palestinians".

Rabah Muhana, a senior PFLP leader from Gaza, said in a statement that "the Palestinians should work hard on making the Israeli occupation of our territories illegal by unifying our efforts and ending the internal Palestinian division".

He called for an end to the security cooperation with Israel and for "intensifying armed resistance together with focusing on the Palestinian diplomacy to end the occupation and gain back the legitimate rights of the Palestinians".

The attack, the deadliest in Jerusalem in years, is bound to ratchet up fears of sustained violence in the city, already on edge amid soaring tensions over a contested holy site.

The Palestinian president has condemned the deadly attack while at the same time calling for an end to Israeli "provocations" surrounding the contested holy site.

The office of President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that he "condemns the killing of the worshippers" in the Jerusalem synagogue.

According to the statement, Abbas also said Israel should stop "the invasion" of a key Jerusalem holy site and halt "incitement" by Israeli ministers.

However, a Hamas spokesperson hailed the attack as a "quick response" to the death of a Palestinian bus driver on Sunday night, Israel's Channel 2 news reported. Though the Israeli police concluded that the death of Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni, who was found hanged in a bus, was an apparent suicide, Palestinians alleged that he was killed by Jewish extremists.

Tuesday's attack is the "direct result" of incitement by Palestinian President Abbas and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"This is the direct result of incitement by Hamas and Abu Mazen (Abbas), incitement that the international community ignores in an irresponsible manner," Netanyahu said in a statement. Israel will "respond harshly", he added.

US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the attack as an "act of pure terror and senseless brutality" on Tuesday.

Speaking in London ahead of talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Kerry called on the Palestinian leadership to denounce the attack.

Kerry blamed the attack on Palestinian calls for "days of rage", and said Palestinian leaders must take serious steps to refrain from such incitement.

Xinhua - AFP - AP

(China Daily 11/19/2014 page11)