Israel seals off home of gunman who killed seven people

Israeli officers on Sunday sealed off the Jerusalem family home of a Palestinian gunman who killed seven people outside a synagogue on Friday.

Seven people including a 14year-old were shot dead in the attack on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which drew wide international condemnation and heightened fears of already spiralling violence escalating further.

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 shooting presents a challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power in December at the head of a hard-right nationalist government, promising to improve personal safety for Israelis.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it was sending additional troops into the West Bank, which has seen months of worsening clashes that culminated in 2022 with the highest death toll in more than a decade.

With US secretary of state Anthony Blinken visiting this week, Israeli and Palestinian leaders were expected to try to contain violence.

After a security cabinet meeting late on Saturday, Netanyahu said the government would pursue sanctions against families of assailants and that he would present steps this week to “strengthen settlements.”

Sworn in a month ago, Netanyahu’s government — the most right-wing in Israel’s history — has prioritised settlement building on lands the Palestinians seek for a state.

Most world powers consider as illegal Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The gunman had apparently acted alone and was shot dead as he tried to flee.