Israel’s forces are demolishing the homes of Palestinians alleged of carrying out attacks in Jerusalem, as a 5th victim died from Tuesday’s assault on a synagogue in the west of the city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged the demolitions after emergency Cabinet meetings on the violence in Jerusalem and the West bank, and this morning the home of Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, who killed two people in a hit-and-run attack in Jerusalem on October 22, was destroyed.
Druze policeman Zidan Saif died of his wounds late Tuesday, after he was shot in a gunfight with the two Palestinian men who shot and stabbed rabbis and worshippers in the synagogue in the mainly-ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof synagogue assault.
The four other victims were buried on Tuesday afternoon. Three of them were US nationals and one was a British national, all of whom had established residency in Israel. One of the Americans was Rabbi Moshe Twersky, whose family in Boston is known for generations of Jewish religious scholars.
Even though Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, the Netanyahu Government continued its allegations of his involvement in the violence.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said, “There is incitement, spearheaded by PA President Abu Mazen [Abbas]. Social media is making our job very difficult, and they are setting off terror [by] using the internet to encourage attacks.”
He warned, “We’re under sustained attack. There’s no quick fix solution. Restoring quiet could take months.”
Netanyahu blamed Abbas for the attack on Tuesday. After the Palestinian leader’s condemnation, the Israeli Prime Minister said the criticism was “a good thing…but this is not enough”.
However, the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, rejected the claims of Netanyahu and his ministers. He told the Knesset on Tuesday, “[Abbas] isn’t interested in terror and isn’t causing terror, not even under the table.”
Cohen said a leading catalyst of the violence was the murder in July of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was abducted, beaten, and possibly burnt alive in retaliation for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens. He urged moderation, as “the religious dimension that the conflict is acquiring is very dangerous and explosive”.
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett prays inside the synagogue following the attack (photo by Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90):
(Featured Photo: Police outside the Jerusalem synagogue attacked on Tuesday — Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
