Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral of the four victims of Monday's attack on a Jewish school in France.

The bodies of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and his two children, Gabriel, aged three and Arieh, eight, as well as eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego will be buried on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

Sandler's widow has said he "gave his all" to help children: "He came here to study, and travelled back and forth between Toulouse and Bordeaux to help children with learning disabilities. He gave his all for this noble cause."

Reuben Rivlin, the speaker in Israel's parliament said during the funeral that "the entire Israeli nation mourns" for the victims.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe, who attended the funeral was quoted as saying France would "not put up" with acts of terror.

@jeremysharon
Jeremy Sharon

#Jpost Juppe: this act of incomparable violence strikes at the heart of #France we expresses our solidarity with the Jewish people

March 21, 2012 9:22 am via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

@jeremysharon
Jeremy Sharon

#France will do everything to ensure nothing like this unbelievable tragedy ever happens again. France will not put up with terror #Jpost

March 21, 2012 9:24 am via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

The bodies arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday after the attack on the Ozar Hatorah (gifts of the bible) Jewish school on Monday.

In Orthodox Jewish tradition bodies are buried as soon as possible after death, unless there needs to be a post-mortem.

The funeral took place as French police surrounded a house where suspect Mohammed Merah is holed up. The 24-year-old, who is accused of also killing three soldiers in a previous shooting spree, is said to have links to al-Qaeda.

On Tuesday French president Nicolas Sarkozy held a nation-wide minute's silence throughout schools in the country to respect the victims.

Witnesses have told police, who have launched a major hunt for the killer, that the gunman may have been wearing a small video camera , while others have reported seeing a facial tattoo.

In the first hail of bullets Gabriel and Arieh Sander, aged three and six, were shot alongside their father Rabbi Jonathan Sandler. The killer then murdered eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego, the daughter of the school principal, Yaacov Monsonego. She was holding her satchel and trembling when he grabbed her hair, put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger.