Article: Israel And The Last Days
 

Four Israelis were killed and several injured as two men armed with a pistol and meat cleavers attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue. The two Palestinians who carried out the attack, Jerusalem's deadliest in six years, were shot dead. Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a harsh response. He ordered the homes of the attackers to be destroyed and called for the people of Israel to stand together in the face of a "wave of terror". Three of the victims were dual Israeli-US nationals, the US state department has confirmed, while the fourth was a dual Israeli-UK citizen. The funerals of the four men - all rabbis - have been held in Jerusalem, with thousands in attendance. Mr Netanyahu said this was a "terrible attack at a time of prayer" and condemned what he termed the "shouts of joy" from the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip after the attacks. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it had carried out the attack. Jerusalem has been a place of division fiercely contested by rival religious traditions for many hundreds of years. In the last few weeks, tensions have risen sharply - largely as the result of the revival of an ancient dispute over rights of worship at a site within the walls of the Old City.