JERUSALEM — Israeli security personnel cordoned off the family home of a Palestinian man who drove his car to a bus stop in Jerusalem, according to Israeli police. Three Israelis were killed and several injured in the attack.
Police released a video on Sunday showing police and soldiers welding the doors and windows of the apartment in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the blockade of the house immediately after Friday’s attack. It was a first step before the possible demolition of the apartment.
Three Israelis, including two brothers aged 8 and 6, were killed on Friday when Palestinian Hussein Qaraqa drove his car into a bus stop in the Ramot settlement in East Jerusalem. Asher and Yaakov Paley’s father was one of five injured in the incident. Qaraqa, 32, was shot by police at the scene.
Police arrested and questioned Qaraqa’s family almost immediately after Friday’s attack. A court extended the detention of her two brothers, police said, and the investigation was ongoing.
The shooter’s family said he was diagnosed with a psychiatric problem and released from hospital just two days before the incident.
Israel says the demolition of the homes of Palestinian attackers serves as a deterrent to prevent future attacks. But human rights groups describe the practice as collective punishment and say it leaves family members who had nothing to do with the attack homeless.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, while the Palestinians claim the eastern area, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of a future state.