JERUSALEM: Israeli police on Sunday sealed off the east Jerusalem home of a Palestinian attacker who killed seven and wounded three outside a synagogue, one of a number of sanctions approved by Benjamin NetanyahuCabinet overnight.
The move comes after a deadly weekend in which seven people were killed and five wounded in two separate shootings in Jerusalem, in one of the bloodiest months in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. occupied for many years. The measures risk further heightening tensions and casting a shadow over next week’s visit by the US Secretary of State. Antony Blinken.
The weekend shootings followed a deadly Israeli raid in the West Bank on Thursday that killed nine Palestinians, most of them militants. In response, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, triggering a series of Israeli air strikes in response. In total, 32 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting this month.
Speaking to the Cabinet on Sunday morning, Mr. Netanyahu said that “we have sealed the house of the terrorist who carried out the terrible attack in Jerusalem and his house will be destroyed.”
“We are not looking for escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario. Our answer to terrorism is to be strong and to respond strongly, quickly and accurately.” , he said.
Police on Sunday released footage of Israeli army engineers welding metal panels on windows and welding front door closures as part of an operation to deal with Friday night’s deadly shooting.
Police said the assailant, identified as a 21-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, was killed in a gunfight with officers after fleeing the scene at the predominantly follower settlement. ultra-Orthodox in east Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov.
Medics said on Saturday a 13-year-old Palestinian boy opened fire elsewhere in east Jerusalem, wounding two Israeli men. The attacker was shot and hospitalized.
Funerals for the victims of Friday’s shooting, the deadliest attack on Israelis since 2008, are scheduled for Sunday.
NetanyahuThe government’s cabinet also said it plans to implement a range of other sanctions, including canceling social security benefits for the families of the attackers, and will take steps to “fortify settlements” this week as part of the government’s response to the attacks over the weekend.
Mr. Netanyahu said that the fortification of settlements in the occupied West Bank was meant to “send a message to terrorists seeking to uproot us from our land that we are here to stay. “
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. It built dozens of settlements, now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers, in many decade since.
Most of the international community sees the settlements as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians, who see the West Bank as the center of a future independent state.
In Cairo, Blinken began a tour of the Middle East on Sunday and spoke to students at American University in the city before holding talks with Egyptian officials on Monday. He is then expected to travel to Israel for the most important leg of his visit to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The move comes after a deadly weekend in which seven people were killed and five wounded in two separate shootings in Jerusalem, in one of the bloodiest months in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. occupied for many years. The measures risk further heightening tensions and casting a shadow over next week’s visit by the US Secretary of State. Antony Blinken.
The weekend shootings followed a deadly Israeli raid in the West Bank on Thursday that killed nine Palestinians, most of them militants. In response, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, triggering a series of Israeli air strikes in response. In total, 32 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting this month.
Speaking to the Cabinet on Sunday morning, Mr. Netanyahu said that “we have sealed the house of the terrorist who carried out the terrible attack in Jerusalem and his house will be destroyed.”
“We are not looking for escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario. Our answer to terrorism is to be strong and to respond strongly, quickly and accurately.” , he said.
Police on Sunday released footage of Israeli army engineers welding metal panels on windows and welding front door closures as part of an operation to deal with Friday night’s deadly shooting.
Police said the assailant, identified as a 21-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, was killed in a gunfight with officers after fleeing the scene at the predominantly follower settlement. ultra-Orthodox in east Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov.
Medics said on Saturday a 13-year-old Palestinian boy opened fire elsewhere in east Jerusalem, wounding two Israeli men. The attacker was shot and hospitalized.
Funerals for the victims of Friday’s shooting, the deadliest attack on Israelis since 2008, are scheduled for Sunday.
NetanyahuThe government’s cabinet also said it plans to implement a range of other sanctions, including canceling social security benefits for the families of the attackers, and will take steps to “fortify settlements” this week as part of the government’s response to the attacks over the weekend.
Mr. Netanyahu said that the fortification of settlements in the occupied West Bank was meant to “send a message to terrorists seeking to uproot us from our land that we are here to stay. “
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. It built dozens of settlements, now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers, in many decade since.
Most of the international community sees the settlements as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians, who see the West Bank as the center of a future independent state.
In Cairo, Blinken began a tour of the Middle East on Sunday and spoke to students at American University in the city before holding talks with Egyptian officials on Monday. He is then expected to travel to Israel for the most important leg of his visit to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
