Israel set to demolish homes of suspected terrorists in Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized the demolition of homes belonging to “terrorists” who the Israeli government views is responsible for carrying out a string of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem.

Demolition plans were announced on Thursday during an emergency meeting between Netanyahu and security officials.

Top officials called for the meeting to discuss tightening security in East Jerusalem following the death of four civilians in in a series of hit and run attacks carried out by Hamas militants over the past few weeks.

“Among those discussed was the sealing or demolition of terrorists’ homes,” a spokesman for Netanyahu told BBC.

The latest victim of the deadly attack was a 17-year-old Israeli boy who died Friday morning from injuries he sustained when a van traveling in high speed rammed into a crowd on Wednesday.

Similarly, an Israeli border policeman died during a separate attack that also occurred on Wednesday and involved yet another Palestinian man driving a van into a crowd.

Israeli police shot and killed the assailants in both cases.

Hamas justified carrying out the attacks by saying it served as revenge against Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem and particularly at the holy sites of Al-Aqsa and the Temple Mount.

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces continued on Friday outside the prayer complex.

Israeli security forces guarded the mosque complex during Friday prayers and only men over the age of 35 were allowed to attend the prayers.

Meanwhile, Israel’s chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef advised Israelis to avoid escalating tension and conflict saying “we need to stop this, only then will the blood of the people of Israel not be spilt.”

Rabbi Yosef has previously voiced his disapproval of Jews attending the Temple Mount. According to him, Jews are forbidden from visiting the holy site.