2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack

On the morning of 18 November 2014, two Palestinian men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the praying congregants with axes, knives, and a gun. They killed four dual-nationality worshippers, and critically wounded a responding Druze Israeli police officer, who later died of his wounds. They also injured seven male worshippers, one of whom never woke up from a coma and died 11 months later. The two attackers were then shot dead by the police.

Several initial reports claimed that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) had declared responsibility for the attack; Other sources say declarations by PFLP militants were either confused or that the group itself disclaimed responsibility. Israeli authorities stated that 'it seemed the men had acted alone'.

It was the deadliest terror attack in Jerusalem since the Mercaz HaRav massacre in March 2008. The attack was one of a number of violent attacks on Israelis in the summer and autumn of 2014 being called an intifada by some news sources, despite no official intifada being organized by a Palestinian group, as they were in the first and second intifadas.

The UN Security Council condemned the "despicable terrorist attack" in the Jerusalem synagogue.

Attack

At approximately 07:00, during the weekday Shacharit morning prayer, as the worshipers were saying the silent amidah standing prayer, two Arab men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the worshippers with axes, meat cleavers, and a gun.