Israeli PM Netanyahu vows action against Palestinian attackers; police seal Jerusalem attacker’s home

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (February 12), prior to the cabinet meeting, vowed a stronger Israeli response in dealing with a recent spike in Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and West Bank. This comes two days after a car-ramming attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem which killed three Israelis and injured several others. Meanwhile, the Israeli police, on Sunday also said that they have sealed up the family home of a Palestinian man who careened his car into a Jerusalem bus stop, on February 10.

“The cabinet is meeting today to prepare for an even broader action against those carrying out terrorism and their supporters in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, while preventing as much as possible harming those uninvolved,” said Netanyahu, on Sunday. However, did not mention any specifics ahead of the cabinet meeting.

Subsequently, addressing the cabinet, Netanyahu said that the “appropriate response to terror is to strike it with force and further deepen our roots in our land.” He added that the government would discuss a “broader operation against the perpetrators of terrorism” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had visited the scene of Friday's ramming attack was met with an angry crowd who demanded action after the incident, on Sunday, said that police have already begun a major enforcement campaign in East Jerusalem. Speaking to the reporters, he said some of these measures include handing out traffic tickets for demolishing houses of Palestinian attackers. The move has previously been justified by Israel as a means to prevent future attacks.

The Israeli security minister ahead of the cabinet meeting also said that he is determined to carry out a large-scale military campaign in East Jerusalem similar to the one that Israel executed two decades ago during a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank. However, his remarks related to the 20-year-old operation known as “Defensive Shield” were dismissed as misguided in several media interviews by former security officials.

Meanwhile, the Israeli police released a video of police and soldiers welding the doors and windows of the Palestinian driver Hussein Qaraqa’s apartment in East Jerusalem shut, reported the Associated Press. The 32-year-old allegedly careened into a bus stop and killed three Israelis in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramot, on Friday and was subsequently killed by the police at the scene.

Notably, the Israeli police had almost immediately detained Qaraqa’s family for questioning and said that the court has extended the detention of his two brothers while the investigation is underway. The perpetrator’s family also said that Qaraqa had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and was released from the hospital just two days before the incident.

There has been a recent escalation in tensions between Israel and Palestine, where two weeks ago a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue while there has been an increase in the number of Israeli raids at the West Bank which have led to hundreds of arrests. So far, at least 42 Palestinians, gunmen and civilians, have been killed this year, as per Reuters, during these raids and encounters with Palestinian militants.

(With inputs from agencies)

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