Four Israelis have been killed and eight injured in an alleged terror attack by two Palestinian men armed with axes, knives, and a pistol at a synagogue in West Jerusalem.

The two assailants, named by family members as cousins Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from the East Jerusalem, burst into the B’nai Torah synagogue in the ultra-Orthadox Har Nof neighbourhood of West Jerusalem and began attacking those worshipping inside.

The two attackers were shot dead at the scene by police after what a witness described to local Channel 2 News as “wild gunfire”.

British citizen Abraham Goldberg, 68, who emigrated to Israel in 1991, has been named as one of the victims of the attack along with three US citizens.

Gruesome footage of the blood trails in the synagogue have been published by the Jerusalem Post.

Hamas leaders praised the attack, and celebrated in Gaza by handing out sweets to members of the public.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed to respond “with a heavy hand” to the attack, which was described by US secretary of state John Kerry described as an “act of pure terror and senseless brutality and violence”.

The murders are the latest deadly attack in a recent surge of violence in Israel and Palestine over the last month, which has seen twelve Palestinians, five Israelis, and a foreign visitor killed.