Jerusalem, Feb 13 (IANS): The family home of a Palestinian man who carried out a car-ramming attack in East Jerusalem that killed three Israelis has been sealed, the Israeli police said.
A video clip released by the police shows policemen and soldiers welding the doors and windows of an apartment in East Jerusalem.
The home belongs to the parents of the assailant and is occupied by two of his brothers, who were all evacuated along with their belongings prior to the sealing, according to a police statement on Sunday.
This sealing, the first step toward a possible demolition of the house, came under the order of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Xinhua news agency reported.
Three Israelis, including brothers aged eight and six, were killed on Friday when Hussein Qaraqa, 32, rushed his car into a bus stop in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramot. The attack also injured five, including the father of the two brothers. Police shot and killed Qaraqa at the scene.
In remarks during the opening of his weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu pledged to take tougher stance in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
"The cabinet is convening today to prepare for a more wide-ranging operation against those carrying out terrorism and their supporters in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, while preventing as much as possible harming those uninvolved," he said. Judea and Samaria is an Israeli term for the West Bank.
The move was part of a series of measures the Israeli government plans to take against a recent surge of Palestinian attacks. A government-backed bill to revoke the Israeli citizenship of Palestinian attackers is expected to come up for a vote later this week.
Tensions in the region have been running high, sparked by daily Israeli military raids in the West Bank in which at least 43 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of 2023. Israel says the raids are aimed at arresting suspects of "terrorism".
The Israeli media reported that since January 1, at least nine Israelis have been killed and several injured in several attacks carried out by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.