[13] 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.

[14][30] Ghassan Abu Jamal's widow, Nadia, was served with a demolition order on her house in East Jerusalem; her residency rights were revoked, and she was expelled to her family home in the West Bank.

Her 3 children, Walid (6), Salma (4) and Mohammed (3) ⁠— ⁠the last child suffers from a heart condition ⁠— ⁠are permitted to stay in East Jerusalem as it is their birth-place, but their rights to all social benefits, including medical coverage, were cancelled.

[31] The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was initially reported as claiming responsibility for the attack.

[3][36][37] However, the doctor later said the results pointed towards an "organized killing";[38][39] many Palestinians believe the bus driver was murdered by Israeli settlers.

[41] In addition, Israel re-instituted the policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian perpetrators and revoking the residency status of their near relatives.

[44] Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon stated that in light of the recent string of attacks Israel would freeze a series of planned steps to ease life for Palestinians living in the West Bank, including new roadways.

[51] Thousands attended Zidan Saif's funeral, including President Reuven Rivlin, Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovich, and Chief of Police Yohanan Danino.

[14] Family and friends of British-Israeli victim Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg raised funds to dedicate a 3-bed unit in his name in the Emergency Department of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem.

The Star Tribune ran a Steve Sack editorial cartoon showing the dove of peace weeping as its olive branch was spattered with blood from the "synagogue massacre".

[89][92][93] Yossi Dagan, Media Relations Liaison for the Samaria Regional Council, an organization serving settlers in the West Bank, as well as Ido Kenan of the Jerusalem Post, complained that CNN and its reporters had exhibited bias, blaming reporter Ben Wedeman for not providing more information than was available at the time, and for the erroneous onscreen banner.

[95] British political theorist Alan Johnson slammed the news coverage, describing coverage such as the Amira Hass report in Haaretz describing alleged "despair and anger that pushed the Abu Jamals to attack Jews in a synagogue (emphasis added)", as "racist" because it robs Arabs of moral agency, attributing moral agency exclusively to Jews.

He described the media outlets that took these positions, CNN, the CBC, Haaretz, and The Guardian, as being "a bit racist" in taking an "Orientalist view of the Palestinians as the Other", and regarding them as "noble savages".