
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed revenge on the Palestinians responsible for the attack on the Jerusalem synagogue, pledging to demolish the homes of the men involved.

Speaking just hours after the attack, which claimed the lives of five people, he said he would 'settle the score with every terrorist', claiming those who wanted to force the Israeli people out of Jerusalem would not succeed.

He said: 'We are in a battle over Jerusalem, our eternal capital.'

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Tragic: The body of Calman Levine is lowered into a grave at Jerusalem's Har Hamenuchot cemetery during the funeral of the four who were killed by Palestinian terrorists armed in a Jerusalem synagogue today

Heart-breaking: The men were slaughtered in a dawn attack by two cousins who screamed 'God is great' as they attacked at random. Thousands of people attended funerals and burials for the victims this evening

Two Palestinians armed with a cleaver and a gun burst into the synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har-Nof, killing four and wounding several others. Pictured: One of the victims is buried this evening

Thousands of people turned out for the funerals of the British-born and three American citizens who died

The victims were carried to their graves during the funeral and memorial ceremony in Jerusalem tonight

Grief: Israeli Jews attend the funeral of Aryeh Kopinsky, Calman Levine and Avraham Shmuel Goldberg near the scene of the attack at a Jerusalem synagogue this afternoon

However, the Prime Minister warned against members of the public taking their own revenge.

He warned: 'No-one must take the law into their own hands, even if spirits are riled and blood is boiling.'

Addressing the nation, Mr Nethanyahu said: 'We are at the height of an ongoing terror attack focused on Jerusalem.

'This evening, I ordered the destruction of the houses of the Palestinians who carried out this massacre and to speed up the demolition of those who carried out previous attack.'

He said: 'Citizens of Israel, I call on you to demonstrate great vigilance and to respect the law because the state will bring to justice all the terrorists and those who dispatch them.

'It is forbidden for anyone to take the law into their own hands, even if tempers are high and even if you're burning with anger."

He linked the attack to inflammatory statements about the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound made by the Palestinian Authority, the Islamist Hamas movement and Israel's Islamic Movement, a religious advocacy group.

The close proximity of sensitive sites for both Jewish and Muslim people in Jerusalem has led to significant tension and conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu warned that Israel would respond to today's synagogue attack

Police launched a major security operation after a demonstration protesting against the attack led to scuffles

Officers were forced to make several arrests during the demonstration on the outskirts of Jerusalem

Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags following today's attack which claimed five victims

Police struggled to keep rival sides apart as Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu called for calm

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the mosque compound is sacred to both faiths and one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

'Hamas, the Islamic Movement and the Palestinian Authority are spreading no end of libels... against the state of Israel.

'They say that the Jews are defiling the Temple Mount, they say that we are planning to destroy the holy places there, that we are intending to change the prayer rites there.

'It's all a lie. And these lies have already cost a very high price..

'Today more victims were added to their number due to this crazy blood libel.'

Thousands of people attended a joint funeral for Kupinsky, Levine and Goldberg before sundown - held outside the synagogue where the attack occurred

A joint funeral for Kupinsky, Levine and Goldberg before sundown (pictured) - the latter held outside the synagogue where the attack occurred

Mourners gather for the triple funeral of Rabbi Kalman Levine, Avraham Goldberg and Arieh Kupinsky

Mourners gather for the triple funeral of Rabbi Kalman Levine, Avraham Goldberg and Arieh Kupinsky

Israelis and relatives attend the funerals of Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Avraham Goldberg

Cabinet Minister Yaakov Peri, former director of the Shin Bet internal security agency admitted that these types of attacks were incredibly difficult to defend against.

He said: 'There is no solution in the world of intelligence to the problem of a lone wolf who decides in the morning to launch an attack in the afternoon.'

Several hours after the attack, several hundred Jewish youths held a demonstration in Jerusalem where they blocked traffic and chanted 'death to Arabs'.

Police confirmed that at least ten people were arrested at the scene.

Also, there were reports of clashes outside the home of Oday Abu Jamal, one of the cousins named as a killer.

Police waiting outside the house were bombarded with rocks and stones. Police resonded with tear gas and stun grenades before arrested 14 members of Abu Jamal's family.

Israelis attend the funerals of Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Avraham Goldberg - three of the four people killed in a shooting attack in a synagogue in Jerusalem

Thousands of people attended a funeral for Twersky this afternoon, which was closely followed by a joint funeral for Kupinsky, Levine and Goldberg before sundown outside the synagogue where the attack occurred

Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg (left), originally from Liverpool in the UK, has been named as one of the victims of the synagogue massacre, along with dual US-Israeli national Rabbi Mosheh Twersky (right) and two other rabbis

EYE WITNESSES SPOKE OF THE HORROR THEY SAW UNFOLDING Ya'akov Amos, who was inside the synagogue and witnessed the attack, described how he saw one of the gunmen at point-blank range: 'The first thing I recall of the incident is seeing a man close to me bleeding through his prayer shawl. Moments later the terrorist moved to within a metre of me then started shooting in the other direction. One, two, three, bang, bang, bang. I immediately hit the ground and tried to protect myself with a prayer stand. I was completely in shock. It all happened in a matter of moments. He kept screaming 'Allah hu'Akbar'. 'I didn't see his face, but through the gap in the stand I saw him shooting from almost point blank range. I then stood up and threw the stand in his direction and simply ran for my life. The man was working his way round to me, so I just ran. 'I ran outside with the shooting continuing in the background and screamed at people 'they're shooting us... call the police!' There were 25 to 30 people praying there. What a shock. It would seem that I know one of the men that was murdered. 'I need to think how God protects us. I got to my house ([nearby] in hysterics. It's a terrible feeling, but we won't give in. We will continue to pray. They're big heroes killing people from behind.' Another, Yossi, said: 'A little before seven o'clock two attackers stormed in shouting 'Allah hu'Akbar' [Arabic for 'God is Great']. There were shouts and screams. He tried to stab me.' Dr Joyce Morel, 56, a physician who lives nearby got an emergency call to run to the scene. He said: 'I arrived a few minutes after it all started. there was an man sitting outside the synagogue - he was severely injured. He told me he'd been shot and stabbed. We opened up his shirts and he had a huge gash in his back where he was stabbed with an axe which went all the way through his ribs. 'He was a young man, in his late 30s, still wearing the teffilin on his hands from prayer. One of the paramedics slipped on blood in the shul [synagogue] and broke his leg.' Witness Sarah Abrams, 38, who lives a five-minute walk from the synagogue, told how one of the attackers stabbed a worshipper as he ran inside. She said: 'One man was lying on the street, all covered in blood. A neighbour told me afterwards that she saw the terrorist go into the synagogue and on the way he stabbed this man as he approached the synagogue. 'Two people came out with their faces half missing, looking like they'd been attacked with knives.' Advertisement

Victim Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, described as a 'pillar of the community', was born in Liverpool. The father of six held a dual British-Israeli passport.

The others killed in the attack have been named as Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Arieh Kopinsky, 43, and Rabbi Calman Levine, who were all dual US-Israeli nationals. The two terrorists were shot dead after the attack by police.

A fifth man, believed to be an Israeli police officer, also died in today's attack.

Thousands of people attended a funeral for Twersky at the Torat Moshe yeshiva in Sanhedria early this afternoon, which was closely followed by a joint funeral for Kupinsky, Levine and Goldberg before sundown - the latter held outside the synagogue where the attack occurred.

A Foreign Office spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are aware of the death of a dual British-Israeli national in Israel on 18 November 2014.' Eight people were left injured by the assault, including two police officers.

The horrific attack at the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue on Agasi Street - the deadliest in Israel since a Palestinian assailant killed eight students at a Jewish seminar in March 2008 - follows weeks of rising tensions and the death of a Palestinian bus driver yesterday that many say is suspicious.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was joined by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in condemning the attack, with Israel's leader promising a tough response.

He also called for an end to Israeli 'provocations' surrounding a sacred shrine holy to both Jews and Muslims.

US President Barack Obama condemned the 'horrific attack' and urged Israelis and Palestinians to calm tensions.

'At this sensitive moment in Jerusalem, it is all the more important for Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards peace,' Obama said.

Obama identified the three Israeli-Americans who died in Tuesday's attack by two Palestinians armed with a gun and meat cleavers as Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine and Mosheh Twersky

'There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians,' he said.

'The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence.'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he spoke to Netanyahu after the assault and denounced it as an 'act of pure terror and senseless brutality and violence.'

One Canadian was wounded in the attack, said Francois Lasalle, a spokesman for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department. He declined to provide further details.

The assailants, named as cousins Uday and Rassan Abu Jamal, both in their 20s, burst in to the synagogue just before 7am as up to 30 worshippers gathered for prayers.

The fanatics used hand guns, axes and cleavers as they rampaged through the building, sending those inside running for their lives.

Pictures posted online showed a bloodied meat cleaver at the scene, along with heavily blood-stained floors and bodies covered in shawls.

Eye witness Ya'akov Amos said: 'The terrorist moved to within a metre of me then started shooting. One, two, three, bang, bang, bang. I immediately hit the ground and tried to protect myself with a prayer stand. He kept screaming 'Allah hu'Akbar'.

Dr Joyce Morel, one of the first medics on the scene, spoke of the gruesome scene he encountered. He said: 'There was a man sitting outside the synagogue - he was severely injured. He told me he'd been shot and stabbed. We opened up his shirts and he had a huge gash in his back where he was stabbed with an axe which went all the way through his ribs.'

According to Times of Israel Rabbi Moshe Twersky, the head of Torat Moshe yeshiva, was one of the American-Israelis killed in the attack.

Twersky was the elder son of Rabbi Isadore Twersky of Boston, and a grandson of Modern Orthodox luminary Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

His father was a Harvard professor noted for his scholarship on the 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides. He died in 1997 having worked at Harvard for more than 30 years, serving as director of the Center for Jewish Studies from 1978 until 1993.

Two other victims have been named as Arieh Kopinsky, 43, from Har Nof and rabbi Calman Levine, also from the neighbourhood.

The fourth victim Mr Goldberg, 68, is a grandfather who lived in Golders Green in London before moving to Israel and was a regular visitor to the synagogue.

Friend David Osborne said: 'He was the most wonderful person, a pillar of the community.

‘I was on my way to the synagogue when I heard screams and shots being fired, I knew instantly it was bad.

‘Avraham prayed there most days for the last ten years or so, he was a devout Jew with no political agenda. All he wanted was to live a peaceful life. His family are the nicest people you could meet.’

The horrific attack at the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue on Agasi Street in West Jerusalem. Much of the recent violence stems from tensions surrounding the Jerusalem holy site referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount

A eulogy ceremony takes place ahead of the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Twersky

Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry the body of Mosheh Twersky during his funeral today (also pictured below)

Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews attend the funeral of Aryeh Kopinsky, Calman Levine and Avraham Shmuel Goldberg in Jerusalem

The victims were killed by two Palestinian cousins who screamed 'God is great' as they massacred worshippers at random with meat cleavers, guns and an axe

Yesterday, a congregation member at the Golders Green Beth Hamerdash synagogue said Mr Goldberg was fondly remembered.

The 23-year-old, who would not give his name, said: ‘I’ve seen him when I’ve gone out to Israel with my family. Every attack is bad but this one is closer to home.

‘A father goes out in the morning to pray and never returns. His family never got a chance to say goodbye. His children will never see him again.

‘It’s disturbing that he was killed not for being a Zionist or a soldier, but simply for being a Jew. He stood out as being very soft and genuine. He was a very nice man.’

Afterward the shocking incident there were scenes of chilling celebration as a woman in Gaza threw sweets into the crowd and masked Palestinian men posed in triumph with axes - the weapons used in the massacre.

Hamas leader Mushir al-Masri described the slaughter as a 'heroic act'

Israeli Jews pack the windows and doors inside an apartment house across the street from the synagogue as they listen to the funeral speeches this afternoon

A Jewish man looks at bullet holes atthe synagogue during the funerals of Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Avraham Goldberg

The horrific attack at the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue on Agasi Street was the deadliest in Israel since a Palestinian assailant killed eight students at a Jewish seminar in March 2008

A worshipper staggers out of the synagogue in shock after the brutal terrorist attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will 'respond harshly' to the attack

The two attackers are cousins Uday and Rassan Abu Jamal, close relatives of a Hamas terrorist who was released in 2011 as part of the exchange deal for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, according to Israeli radio.

Ya'akov Amos, who was inside the synagogue and witnessed the attack, described how he saw one of the gunmen at point-blank range: 'The first thing I recall of the incident is seeing a man close to me bleeding through his prayer shawl.'

'Moments later the terrorist moved to within a metre of me then started shooting in the other direction. One, two, three, bang, bang, bang. I immediately hit the ground and tried to protect myself with a prayer stand. I was completely in shock. It all happened in a matter of moments. He kept screaming 'Allah hu'Akbar'.

'I didn't see his face, but through the gap in the stand I saw him shooting from almost point blank range. I then stood up and threw the stand in his direction and simply ran for my life. The man was working his way round to me, so I just ran.

'I ran outside with the shooting continuing in the background and screamed at people 'they're shooting us... call the police!' There were 25 to 30 people praying there. What a shock. It would seem that I know one of the men that was murdered.

'I need to think how God protects us. I got to my house ([nearby] in hysterics. It's a terrible feeling, but we won't give in. We will continue to pray. They're big heroes killing people from behind.'

The two attackers are cousins Rassan and Uday Abu Jamal, close relatives of a Hamas terrorist who was released in 2011 as part of the exchange deal for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit

A relative of Palestinian cousins Uday (left) and Ghassan Abu Jamal (right), both in their 20s, shows their portraits at the family's residence in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber

A Palestinian woman scatters sweets as she celebrates with others an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue

Palestinian supporters of The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, (PFLP), a small militant group, dance while waving their flags, after they heard the news of the shooting

Masked Palestinians hold axes and a gun as they celebrate the massacre of four worshippers

Israeli security personnel run next to the synagogue where two Palestinians killed four worshippers

Israeli police officers secure the area following the attack

Israeli security forces secure the scene following the attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will 'respond harshly' to the attack, which he described as the 'cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers', while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also condemned the attack.

Eight were injured in the attack and are being treated at the Sha'are Zedek and Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem. One policeman is in a serious condition, having been shot in the head.

The attackers are aged 22 and 27 and from the Jabal Mukaber district of East Jerusalem, which has been the scene of relentless clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in recent months.

We will return the yearned for quiet and peace to Jerusalem

They were reportedly inspired by calls from Hamas through Palestinian media and on social media to attack Israeli targets to 'protect the Al Aqsa mosque'.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small militant group, said the cousins were among its members, though it did not say whether it had instructed them to carry out the attack.

Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service are questioning relatives of the two killers to determine the extent of the family involvement in the attack.

Israel's Internal Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovich, under growing public pressure as the number of violent incidents continues to rise, speaking from the scene of this morning's attack said: 'We will be there in Jabel Mukaber. We will be there in all places. The security services, the police, the local council, we will do everything to provide security. If we need more manpower, we will bring more manpower. We will return the yearned for quiet and peace to Jerusalem.'

He insisted that the incitement from the Palestinian side prior to today's incident, including using the pretext of the confirmed suicide of the Arab bus driver yesterday, is unacceptable.

He also said he would ease controls on carrying weapons for self-defence in the wake of the attack. He added: 'In the coming hours, I will ease restrictions on carrying weapons,' indicating it would apply to anyone with a licence to carry a gun, such as private security guards and off-duty army officers.

Israeli Zaka emergency services volunteers carry the body of a Palestinian assailant who was shot dead while attacking the synagogue

The scene outside the synagogue following the attack, with police and paramedics in attendance

A wounded Israeli man is taken to an ambulance after his leg was bandaged at the scene of the attack

In a statement, Hamas praised the synagogue attack as a 'heroic act', saying it was a 'response to continued Israeli crimes, the killing, desecrating al-Aqsa (mosque),' a reference to a recent incident at the holy site. It also called for a continuation of 'vendettas'.

Hamas leader Mushir al-Masri said that the slaughter of the worshippers was a 'natural reaction' to the death of 32-year-old Palestinian bus driver Yusuf Hasan al-Ramuni, who was found hanged in his vehicle on Sunday.

Police said there was no evidence of foul play, blaming his death on suicide, with their findings backed up by a post-mortem.

Both the Israeli and Palestinian pathologists who performed an autopsy at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, agreed that it was a suicide.

But colleagues and family said there were signs of violence on his body, claiming he was murdered.

THIS DEADLY ATTACK IS PART OF A SINISTER HAMAS PLAN TO TRIGGER A THIRD MAJOR UPRISING, WRITES MICHAEL BURLEIGH The catalyst for the seemingly random and senseless attacks that have happened in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was the burning alive of a 16 year old Arab boy by Jews in July, in retaliation for the abduction and murder of three Jewish schoolboys. The latest escalation is the axe, knife and gun attack that left four Jewish worshippers dead inside a West Jerusalem synagogue yesterday. This is against a backdrop of daily confrontations between Israeli police and rock throwing Palestinian youths. Why is this happening? Jerusalem's Old City hosts sites that are sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The al-Aqsa mosque is the third most sacred place in Islam, but the wider compound on which it stands also overlays the ruins of two Jewish temples from biblical times which very religious Jews want to rebuild. The site is so sensitive to both faiths that a subtle deal was arranged, under which Jews can visit, but not pray within the compound, while Muslims can. Fervent religious Jews have being trying to overturn these arrangements, with the passive connivance of members of right-wing religious parties in the Israeli coalition government. The PM Netanyahu has condemned their actions, which have also led Jordan, which oversees the entire site, to withdraw its ambassador, while at the same time doing little to stop Jews from aggressively purchasing property in Arab areas of the city. But there are other more sinister agendas at work. The militant organization Hamas suffered a severe setback in Gaza because of Israel's operation Protective Edge. It has also failed to expand its influence at the expense of the rival Palestinian Authority which governs the occupied West Bank. As far as anyone knows the recent spate of violent attacks have been random and self-generated. Enraged individuals have just decided to attack Jews, although the latest incident seems more organised. But Hamas is trying to incite a third intifada, or mass uprising, in which as in 1987-93 and 2000-05, Palestinian youths will hurl stones at heavily armed Israeli police and troops. There will inevitably be casualties as both sides settle into a mood of fear and hatred. Hamas knows that international media coverage will depict this in David and Goliath terms, as it did twice before, at a time when various European states (and the EU) are discussing recognition of a Palestinian state, and there are movements to boycott, disinvest and sanction Israel. Since the majority of Palestinians have no appetite for years of strife, the Israeli government should rein in its own extremists and so more to improve the security, living conditions and welfare of Palestinians in Jerusalem before it is too late. Otherwise they might find themselves facing Hamas rather than the relatively benign Palestinian Authority. Michael Burleigh is a historian and specialist on international affairs Advertisement

And the Palestinian pathologist who attended the post-mortem also ruled out suicide, suggesting he may have been drugged then strangled, the family's lawyer said.

Thousands attended his funeral late on Monday, some of them calling for revenge.

Much of the recent violence stems from tensions surrounding the Jerusalem holy site referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount because of the Jewish temples that stood there in biblical times. It is the most sacred place in Judaism.

Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is their third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

The site is so holy that Jews have traditionally refrained from going there, instead praying at the adjacent Western Wall. Israel's chief rabbis have urged people not to ascend to the area, but in recent years, a small but growing number of Jews, including ultranationalist lawmakers, have begun regularly visiting the site, a move seen as a provocation.

Today's attack is bound to ratchet up fears of sustained violence in the city, already on edge amid soaring tensions over a contested holy site.

Israeli TV footage showed the synagogue, in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Har Nof neighborhood, surrounded by police and rescue workers following the attack.

Dr Joyce Morel, 56, a physician who lives nearby got an emergency call to run to the scene.

He said: 'I arrived a few minutes after it all started. there was an man sitting outside the synagogue - he was severely injured. He told me he'd been shot and stabbed. We opened up his shirts and he had a huge gash in his back where he was stabbed with an axe which went all the way through his ribs.

I saw a man stagger out of the synagogue with two bullets wounds in his back

'He was a young man, in his late 30s, still wearing the teffilin on his hands from prayer. One of the paramedics slipped on blood in the shul [synagogue] and broke his leg.'

Witness Sarah Abrams, 38, who lives a five-minute walk from the synagogue, told how one of the attackers stabbed a worshipper as he ran inside.

She said: 'One man was lying on the street, all covered in blood. A neighbour told me afterwards that she saw the terrorist go into the synagogue and on the way he stabbed this man as he approached the synagogue.

'Two people came out with their faces half missing, looking like they'd been attacked with knives.'

Eye witness Menahem Cohen, who saw the attack happen from his apartment directly opposite the building, said: 'I saw a man stagger out of the synagogue with two bullets wounds in his back, blood was running down, and he appeared to be in complete shock.

'Very quickly the police arrived and took positions at different angles around the building. Then I saw one of the attackers come out of the building holding a meat cleaver, and as he came out he was shot from different angles by the police and he fell to the ground.'

Israeli emergency services personnel clean the sidewalk at the scene of the attack

Israeli emergency personnel with a blood-soaked shirt in the aftermath of the horrific incident

Israeli police officers take position near the scene of the attack

Israeli security personnel search a religious Jewish Yeshiva next to the synagogue. The attack was the deadliest in Jerusalem in years and is bound to ratchet up fears of sustained violence in the city

Israeli security personnel search a religious Jewish Yeshiva next to the scene of the attack

The attack, the deadliest in Jerusalem in six years, ratcheted up fears of sustained violence in the city, which is already on edge amid soaring tensions over its most contested holy site.

Jerusalem residents have already been fearful of what appeared to be lone wolf attacks using cars or knives against pedestrians. But Tuesday's early morning attack on a synagogue harkens back to the gruesome attacks during the Palestinian uprising of the last decade.

Tensions appeared to have been somewhat defused last week following a meeting by Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan's King Abdullah II in Jordan. The meeting was an attempt to restore calm after months of violent confrontations surrounding a sacred shrine holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Palestinian mourners attend the funeral of bus driver Yusuf Hasan al-Ramuni in the West Bank town of Abu Dis. Hamas leader Mushir al-Masri said that the slaughter of the worshippers was a 'natural reaction' to the death of al-Ramuni

Anger: A group of Palestinians carry the coffin of al-Ramuni

Ultra-orthodox Jews watch paramedics and police officers at the scene

Israel and the Palestinians said then they would take steps to reduce tensions that might lead to an escalation.

Netanyahu blamed the violence on incitement by the Islamic militant group Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel's police chief said Tuesday's attack was likely not organized by militant groups, similar to other recent incidents, making it more difficult from security forces to prevent the violence.

'These are individuals that decide to do horrible acts. It's very hard to know ahead of time about every such incident,' Yohanan Danino told reporters at the scene.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has joined US Secretary of State John Kerry in condemning the attack.

Speaking in London, Mr Kerry and Mr Hammond called on the Palestinian leadership 'at every single level' to condemn the assault.

'To have this kind of act, which is a pure result of incitement, of calls for days of rage, of irresponsibility is unacceptable,' Mr Kerry told reporters.

'The Palestinian leadership must condemn this and they must begin to take serious steps to restrain any kind of incitement that comes from their language, from other people's language, and exhibit the kind of leadership that is necessary to put this region on a different path.'

Mr Hammond added: 'Both sides in this conflict need to do everything possible to de-escalate the situation and reduce the tension we've seen in Jerusalem over the past few weeks, which is extremely dangerous for both Palestinian and Jewish communities in that area.'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, the first time he has directly denounced violence after weeks of deepening unrest.

'The presidency condemns the attack on Jewish worshippers in one of their places of prayer in West Jerusalem and condemns the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it,' his office said in a statement to Reuters.

Much of the recent violence stems from tensions surrounding the Jerusalem holy site referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount (pictured)