LIVE BLOG: Violence in Jerusalem

MEE's Bethan Staton has spoken to the family of cousins Ghassan Abu Odai and Odai Abu Jamal in East Jerusalem, after the two suspected synagogue attackers were shot and killed by Israeli police.

"Family members said they knew nothing about the men’s plans before they carried out the attack. A close family member had spent twenty years imprisoned in Israeli jails, they reported.

“Netanyahu has to step back from Jerusalem and al Aqsa, and from the people that live in Jerusalem. That’s the solution. This is the feeling of every Muslim and Jerusalemite,” the mens’ cousin, Daoud Abu Jamal, said. “Someone has to stop Netanyahu, and stop the people that are killing Palestinians.

Ghassan and Oday, Daoud said, were young men thinking about their futures, but found themselves trapped by occupation policy in Jerusalem."

MEE's Oren Ziv, outside the Jerusalem synagogue where at least five Israelis were killed earlier, has pictured the clean up operation taking place now.

Clashes have erupted between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem.

Israeli security forces surrounded the homes of Ghassan Abu Odai and Odai Abu Jamal, two cousins from East Jerusalem, in the Jabal al-Mukaber district of the city and clashes broke out immediately.

"Palestinian youths are hurling stones at Israeli troops while the latter fire stun grenades and teargas," one eyewitness told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

At least 14 youths suffered temporary asphyxiation due to excessive teargas inhalation, he added.

At least seven Palestinians were detained by Israeli troops during the violence, the witnesses said.

Two armed men attacked a synagogue in west Jerusalem early on Tuesday morning, armed with axes and guns, killing at least five Israelis and seriously wounding a number of others.

The two Palestinian attackers - Ghassan Abu Odai and Odai Abu Jamal - have been shot dead by Israeli police, who have now surrounded the men's homes in East Jerusalem.

Clashes have erupted in Palestinian areas of the city.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a "heavy hand" in response and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attack.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have praised it and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has said the attackers were members of their group, but have stopped short of claiming responsibility for the killings.