Israel toughens response amid rising violence
JERUSALEM — Israel on Sunday sealed the home of an east Jerusalem man who killed seven people outside a synagogue, in a preliminary step ahead of the expected demolition of the building, as two Palestinian men died from Israeli fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved an order to seal the home of a second Palestinian shooter — a 13year-old boy who wounded two Israeli men in east Jerusalem on Saturday. His Cabinet also took steps toward approving other punitive measures against the families of Palestinian attackers, including potentially stripping them of citizenship rights and deporting them.
The moves by Israel, along with escalating violence, further raised tensions as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in the region. Blinken’s highwire diplomatic act, focused largely on restoring calm, begins Monday in Israel after he completes a brief visit to Egypt.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli police sealed up the east Jerusalem home of a 21-year-old Palestinian attacker who killed seven people and wounded three outside a synagogue Friday night during the Jewish sabbath. The attacker was shot and killed by police.
“We sealed the home of the terrorist who carried out the horrendous attack in Jerusalem, and his home will be demolished,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet. “We are not seeking an escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario. Our answer to terrorism is a heavy hand and a strong, swift and precise response.”
The planned home demolition is among a series of punitive steps, including plans to “strengthen” its West Bank settlements, announced by Israel in the wake of the twin shootings.
Palestinians, meanwhile, reported dozens of attacks by Jewish
settlers in the occupied West Bank. The most serious took place in the town of Turmus Ayya, where the official Wafa news agency quoted residents as saying that settlers torched a car and set a home on fire.
Later Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet would seal the family home of the 13-yearold shooter as well. Israel typically demolishes attackers’ homes only in deadly attacks. The boy’s victims were both badly wounded but survived Saturday’s shooting.
His office also said the Cabinet was pushing ahead with plans that could strip residency and citizenship rights of the families of Palestinian attackers, and potentially deport them to the occupied West Bank. Such moves have been condemned by human rights groups as collective punishment.
The weekend shootings followed a deadly Israeli raid in the West Bank on Thursday that killed 10 Palestinians, most of them militants. In response, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, triggering a series of Israeli air strikes in response.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said an 18-year-old Palestinian man who was shot by a security guard next to a West Bank settlement died Sunday. The Israeli military said the guard saw a man armed with a pistol outside the settlement and shot him.
The ministry also confirmed the death of a 24-year-old Palestinian man who was wounded in last week’s military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.