Middle East

Israeli police seal off home of Jerusalem synagogue attacker

Move follows deadly weekend in which seven people killed, five others injured in two shootings

Israeli police have sealed off the home of a Palestinian attacker who killed seven people outside a synagogue. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP
Israeli police have sealed off the home of a Palestinian attacker who killed seven people outside a synagogue. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP
Sun Jan 29 2023 - 09:37

Israeli police have sealed off the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian attacker who killed seven people and injured three others outside a synagogue.

The move was one of several punitive measures approved by Binyamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet on Saturday night.

It followed a deadly weekend in which seven people were killed and five others wounded in two separate shootings in Jerusalem, in one of the bloodiest months in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in several years.

The measures threatened to further raise tensions and cast a cloud over a visit next week by US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

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The weekend shootings followed an Israeli raid in the West Bank on Thursday that killed nine Palestinians, most of them militants.

[ Two Israelis injured after 13-year-old opens fire in East Jerusalem ]

In response, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, triggering a series of Israeli air strikes in response.

In all, 32 Palestinians have been killed in fighting this month.

Israeli family members and relatives mourn Eli Mizrahi and his wife Natali Mizrahi who died in the shooting attack. Photograph: PA
Israeli family members and relatives mourn Eli Mizrahi and his wife Natali Mizrahi who died in the shooting attack. Photograph: PA

On Sunday, police released footage of Israeli army engineers fixing metal plates over the windows and welding the front door shut as part of the operation in response to Friday night’s deadly shooting.

They said the attacker, identified as a 21-year-old East Jerusalem resident, was killed in a shoot-out with officers after fleeing the scene in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem settlement of Neve Yaakov.

[ Israel dismisses ‘meaningless’ statement by 90 countries opposed to its sanctions on Palestinian Authority ]

On Saturday, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy opened fire elsewhere in East Jerusalem, wounding two Israeli men, paramedics said. The attacker was shot and taken to hospital.

Funerals for the victims of Friday’s shooting, the deadliest attack on Israelis since 2008, were scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet also said it plans a series of other punitive measures, including cancelling social security benefits for the families of attackers and will take steps to “strengthen the settlements” this week as part of the government’s response to the weekend’s attacks.

Mr Blinken is expected to arrive on Monday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials. – AP