Israel demolishes home of Palestinian tram stop attacker
Israel demolishes home of Palestinian
tram stop attacker
Demolition of home of man shot dead
after killing two people, including baby, follows separate attack on Jerusalem
synagogue
Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Wednesday 19 November
2014 11.46 GMT
Israel security forces have destroyed
the home of a Palestinian who last month ran over and killed two people at a
Jerusalem tram stop, a day after two Palestinians killed four rabbis and a
policeman in a frenzied assault at a synagogue in the city.
“The home of the terrorist, who killed
an Israeli baby and a young woman on 22 October in a tram station in Jerusalem,
was destroyed in Silwan,” an army statement said.
The home demolition came after two
Palestinians ran amok among worshippers in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday in
the city’s bloodiest attack in years.
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin
Netanyahu, said there would be a harsh response to the attack and pledged to
speed up the demolitions of the homes in line with a policy announced this
month.
“This evening, I ordered the
destruction of the homes of the Palestinians who carried out this massacre and
to speed up the demolitions of those who carried out previous attacks,” he said
on Tuesday.
The policy of home demolitions, which
was practised by Israel for decades, was halted in 2005 amid claims it was
ineffective and counterproductive.
Demolitions, however, began again in
August when the homes of several men involved in the kidnap and murder of three
Israeli teenagers were destroyed.
The home of Abdel-Rahman Shaloudi,
21, was blown up before dawn on Wednesday, police and the military said.
The East Jerusalem resident was shot
dead by police in October as he tried to flee after mowing down commuters at a
light railway stop.
Pope Francis has condemned what he
called the “unacceptable” attack on the synagogue, telling his weekly general
audience that he was greatly concerned by the increasing tension and urging
both sides to end the “spiral of hatred and violence and take courageous
decisions for reconciliation and peace”.
Two Palestinian cousins wielding meat
cleavers, knives and a handgun attacked the Kehilat Bnai Bnei Torah synagogue,
killing four members of the congregation and a policeman. Israeli security
forces killed both assailants in a subsequent shootout.
Jewish worshippers returned on
Wednesday morning to the scene to seek comfort in prayer. One, Gavriel Cohen,
said the attack showed “that our future in this world is dependent on God”.
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