Israeli officers on Sunday sealed off the Jerusalem family home of a Palestinian gunman who<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/01/27/five-killed-in-east-jerusalem-synagogue-shooting-police-say/" target="_blank"> killed seven people outside a synagogue</a> on the outskirts of the city, police said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier promised “a swift response” after seven people — including a 14-year-old — were shot dead on Friday in the attack on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/israel/" target="_blank">Israel's </a>security cabinet announced measures on Saturday to revoke the social security rights of “the families of terrorists that support terrorism” after a 13-year-old <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/01/28/palestinian-boy-13-injures-two-in-another-shooting-in-east-jerusalem/" target="_blank">Palestinian boy shot and injured two people</a>. “Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm him and those who assist him,” Mr Netanyahu said as he opened the cabinet meeting. The attack came hours after a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in the city. It was the worst such Palestinian attack on Israelis in the Jerusalem area since 2008 and followed a fatal Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city Jenin on Thursday, the deadliest there in years. The family home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of At Tur was sealed off on Saturday in preparation for demolition, while the relatives of the gunman were detained by police. Homes of Palestinian attackers are often demolished by Israeli forces and their families arrested. The attack drew international condemnation and heightened fears of already increasing violence escalating further. The Israeli envoy to the UAE has said that his country wants peace but would “fight to protect the Jewish people”. “We would like to live in peace with everyone. But we will fight to protect our citizens. We will fight to protect the Jewish people around the world,” Amir Hayek said at a commemoration event for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Crossroads of Civilisations Museum in Dubai on Saturday. Speaking about Friday's attack, Mr Hayek said: “They were killed only because they are Jewish. It is something we cannot live with. They were innocent people in Jerusalem who went to pray in a synagogue.” The attack came a day after Israel carried out a deadly raid in the West Bank that claimed the lives of nine Palestinians, including a 61-year-old woman. The UAE condemned the Israeli forces' storming of the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation called on Israeli authorities to assume responsibility for reducing instability in the region. Speaking at the memorial event, the Israeli ambassador said remembering the Holocaust is remembering that the Jewish people around the world are suffering from violence. “We cannot settle with the memory. Memory will teach us how terrible it was. But it is not enough,” he said. “Each and every one of us must fight every manifestation of racism, every intolerance towards others. This is another meaning of ‘Never again’.” Israel's security cabinet said there would be a discussion by the council of ministers on Sunday over a bill to revoke the Israeli identity cards of families of attackers. The measures are likely to apply primarily to Palestinians with Israeli nationality and Palestinians with resident status in annexed East Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu is to propose measures to strengthen settlements in the occupied West Bank, his office said after the cabinet meeting. The cabinet also said it would make it easier for Israelis to acquire gun licences. Efforts to collect illegal weapons would be stepped up. “When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is also leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, as he spoke outside a Jerusalem hospital on Saturday. Mr Ben-Gvir, notorious for his hardline views on Palestinians, says the government should take “other response measures” in wake of the attacks. “Israel is going on the attack and not just defending itself,” he said on Saturday. Israeli forces have been placed on high alert, and the army has announced that it will be reinforcing troop numbers in the West Bank, while there have been calls for restraint from abroad. In recent days rockets have been fired by militants in the Gaza Strip, with retaliatory Israeli air strikes. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to discuss steps for de-escalation. Israel's new government has prompted concern both at home and abroad. Thousands protested against the new cabinet in Tel Aviv for the fourth consecutive weekend on Saturday, with senior members of Israel's Bar Association calling for Mr Netanyahu to be declared unfit for office. Friday's attack happened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It sparked outrage in Europe, the US and the Middle East. The gunman was named as Khayri Alqam by some media outlets.
