Israel destroys homes of two assailants in East Jerusalem

Israeli forces demolished Monday homes of two Palestinians who killed four Israelis in one of the deadliest days in a recent wave of violence, Israeli officials said.

The home of Alaa Abu Jamal in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber was filled with cement and sealed off, police spokeswoman Luba Samri told Xinhua.

On Oct. 13, Abu Jamal, then a worker with Israel's main telecom company Bezeq, rammed a company vehicle at commuters near a bus station in central Jerusalem. He jumped out of the car, stabbing people and killing a rabbi before security forces shot and killed him.

In another part of Jabel Mukaber, Israeli forces demolished the home of the family of Bahaa Allyan in the middle floor of a three-story building.

Allyan, together with Bilal Ghanem, carried out a shooting and stabbing attack in a bus near Jabel Mukaber, killing two Israelis and a U.S. citizen. Police shot dead Allyan and arrested Ghanem.

Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian houses since 1967, the year in which it occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as a punitive measure aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks against Israelis in the future.

In early 2005, a Defense Ministry committee concluded that the measure is not effective in its aim to deter militants from committing attacks, and Israel ceased to use it.

However, the government decided recently to renew the controversial measure, following a three-month-long wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, which claimed the lives of at least 131 Palestinians and 23 Israelis.

The government also decided to deny Palestinian families the option of rebuilding their demolished homes. Endit