Israel demolishes house of Palestinian attacker

The Israeli army and police forces demolished overnight the east Jerusalem family home of a Palestinian suspected in perpetrating a deadly vehicular attack against Israelis in October, a military spokesperson said Wednesday.

Abed al-Rahman al-Shaludi, resident of the neighbourhood of Silwan in annexed east Jerusalem, was shot dead by police after he rammed his vehicle into a crowed of commuters in a light rail station in Jerusalem Oct 22. The attack claimed the lives of a three-month-old baby and a 22-year-old woman.

The family of the suspect denied al-Shaludi was responsible for the terror attack, saying he lost control of his vehicle.

The move came a day after the Israeli prime minister told the army to speed up the demolition of the houses of those who carried out recent attacks on Israelis, and also ordered to demolish the homes of two east Jerusalem assailants, who were responsible for Tuesday's attack on a Jerusalem synagogue that killed four worshippers and a policeman.

"The house demolitions are a clear message to all those who seek to hurt Israeli citizens that terror bears a heavy price," Xinhua cited a statement by the military as saying.

US President Barack Obama Tuesday condemned the attack, urging leaders on both sides to work together to ease the tensions in Jerusalem.

However, the US administration last Thursday also condemned the scheduled demolitions as "collective punishment" that would only increase the tensions in the city.

Since the occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza in 1967, Israel had used house demolitions as punitive measure against relatives of Palestinians who harmed or allegedly harmed Israelis.

However, the measure was abandoned in 2005, when it was found its drawbacks outweigh its benefits.

The punitive measure was brought back in July, after the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.