Deadly Jerusalem Terror Attack Prompts Calls for Tougher Counter-Terrorism Measures

Another deadly terror attack in Jerusalem is raising calls for more security and tougher counter-terrorism measures in the primarily Arab eastern part of Jerusalem similar to a counter-terrorism operation carried out in the West Bank 20 years ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to the difference between Israel and its enemies in the weekly cabinet meeting.

“Our enemies murder young children in Jerusalem and celebrate their murder while we are rescuing young children in Turkey and praising their rescue,” Netanyahu said.

On Friday, a Jerusalem resident rammed his car into a bus stop killing two brothers aged six and eight, a 20-year-old newlywed man, and wounding five others.

“This terrorist rammed his vehicle into the bus stop at a high speed,” Israeli Police Spokesman Master Sgt. Dean Elsdunne said at the scene. “I want to emphasize that the attack was on civilians and the police will not stand for this type of terror on our civilians.”

An off-duty policeman shot and killed the terrorist, a 31-year-old resident of the eastern Jerusalem area of Issawiya.

“There isn’t anything more difficult, (than) to arrive to an incident in which a child was murdered, we are praying also for others. A 20-year-old was also killed, there are no words more difficult than that,” Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said.

This is the latest in a number of attacks in and around Jerusalem, carried out by Arab residents of Jerusalem.

Ben Gvir has sparked controversy by calling for police raids and other measures against Palestinian residents of eastern Jerusalem, calling it Defensive Shield 2, a military counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank in 2002 during the Second Intifadah.

“I, first of all, thank the prime minister for adopting my policy, first to seal the house as soon as possible, immediately. I also instructed the police to set up checkpoints around Issawiya and to stop one by one, and simply to check every vehicle. I wanted to set a full blockade but there is a judicial question here around it, and we will discuss it,” Ben Gvir said.

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Tensions remain high following the January 27^th attack outside a synagogue that killed seven.

Most east Jerusalem Arab residents hold a special status that includes every privilege of an Israeli citizen except the right to vote in national elections.

Following Friday’s attack, police arrested relatives and the landlord of the terrorist for questioning and sealed up the terrorist’s home.

Meanwhile, overnight Saturday, Israel said it intercepted a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel and Monday the Israel Defense Forces said it bombed a Hamas underground rocket-manufacturing site and other sites in response.

Netanyahu predicts the Knesset will pass a proposal this week to revoke the citizenship of terrorists and expel them.

“The appropriate response to terror is to pound it with force and further deepen our roots in our land,” Netanyahu said. “Therefore, the Cabinet will convene today to prepare for an even broader operation against the perpetrators of terrorism and their supporters in east Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, while avoiding as much as possible harming those uninvolved."

In light of the ongoing protests against the government and its reforms, Netanyahu called on the opposition to act responsibly and dialogue without crossing red lines.

Later, in response to the Jerusalem terror attacks, the security cabinet authorized nine existing settlements in Judea and Samaria that had existed already for years, giving them full rights as Israeli communities.