Worshippers at Jerusalem Synagogue killed 2 Palestinian Cousins screaming 'God is great'(Photos)

A British-born father and three American citizens were killed by Palestinian terrorists armed with axes and guns in a Jerusalem synagogue.

They were slaughtered in a dawn attack by two cousins who screamed 'god is great' as they massacred at random.The two terrorists were shot dead after the attack by police.

The assailants, named as cousins Uday and Rassan Abu Jamal, both in their 20s, burst in to the synagogue just before 7am screaming 'God is great' 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.

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.'

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

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will 'respond harshly' to the attack

While Palestinian Hamas leader Mushir al-Masri described the slaughter as a 'heroic act'  Several Palestinians took to the streets to celebrate the deaths of the worshippers and hailed the two cousins as martyrs

Culled from MailOnline /Jewish news