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Israel to destroy homes of Palestinian Jerusalem car attackers | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the demolition of the homes of Palestinians in Jerusalem who have carried out attacks on Israelis. | |
The decision, taken on Thursday, follows weeks of unrest in the city. | |
Four people have now died in two separate attacks on pedestrians in Jerusalem in the past three weeks. | |
The latest incident occurred on Wednesday when a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a tram station. | |
One person was killed at the scene and another died from his injuries on Friday morning. | |
Hamas said it carried out the attack, while Israel blamed Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, both of which formed a unity government earlier this year. | |
Meanwhile several small explosions in Gaza targeted the homes and cars of Fatah officials. | |
No-one was hurt, but Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah cancelled his trip to Gaza because of the attacks. | |
Vehicle attacks | Vehicle attacks |
A spokesman for Mr Netanyahu said he had met with security officials on Thursday evening to discuss measures to restore calm in Jerusalem. | |
"Among those discussed was the sealing or demolition of terrorists' homes," the spokesman said. | |
Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef urged Israelis to stop attempting to enter parts of Jerusalem's main holy site, the al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount complex, in order to avoid increased tension. | |
"We need to stop this, only then will the blood of the people of Israel not be spilt," he said. | |
Further clashes broke out in parts of East Jerusalem on Friday morning, including near the Shuafat neighbourhood. | |
The man declared dead on Friday after Wednesday's van attack was identified as 17-year-old Shalom Baadani, a Jewish seminary student. | |
He was hit by the van driven by Ibrahim al-Akari, from Shuafat refugee camp in the east of the city, police said. | He was hit by the van driven by Ibrahim al-Akari, from Shuafat refugee camp in the east of the city, police said. |
Akari's Facebook page states that he is a member of Hamas, and the Twitter account for the group's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, described him as a member and a martyr. | |
Hamas said it had carried out the Jerusalem attack in revenge for Israel's actions around the al-Aqsa mosque, which is part the al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount compound. | |
A 38-year-old Israeli Druze border policeman, Jaddan Assad, was also killed in the incident - the city's second attack by a Palestinian with a vehicle in two weeks. | |
A baby girl and an Ecuadorian woman were killed in the previous attack, carried out by a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group. | |
Wednesday's attack came hours after clashes at the holy site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and Jews as the Temple Mount. The al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, and the compound the holiest site in Judaism. | |
Tensions have risen in the city in recent weeks, and access to the compound has been intermittently restricted, with Israeli police at times barring young male Muslim worshippers from entering the site for security reasons. | Tensions have risen in the city in recent weeks, and access to the compound has been intermittently restricted, with Israeli police at times barring young male Muslim worshippers from entering the site for security reasons. |
The fate of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians. | The fate of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians. |
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, while Israel regards the whole of Jerusalem as its "eternal and indivisible capital". | The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, while Israel regards the whole of Jerusalem as its "eternal and indivisible capital". |
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1980 in a move not recognised internationally. | Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1980 in a move not recognised internationally. |