Israel to destroy homes of synagogue attackers

The family of two Palestinian assailants who carried out a deadly assault on a Jerusalem synagogue this week says police have ordered the demolition of their homes.

Said Abu Jamal, a cousin of the men, said their families in east Jerusalem received demolition orders from Israeli police today.

Police say Ghassan and Oday Abu Jamal burst into a crowded synagogue on Tuesday morning, killing four worshippers and a Druze Arab policeman with meat cleavers and gunfire before they were shot dead.

It was the bloodiest attack in a recent wave of violence by Palestinian assailants that has killed 11 people.
 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered authorities to destroy the homes of the attackers' families, a punitive measure that has drawn criticism in the past.