Jerusalem blockade: Israeli authorities will lockdown city to halt deadly Palestinian attacks

Parts of Jerusalem will be blockaded as an extreme measure taken by Israel's cabinet to halt attacks by Palestinians, according to a security cabinet statement. Soldiers of the IDF would also be deployed to help police in some areas. The move comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to take "aggressive steps" to avoid further violence in the holy city.

"The security cabinet decided several measures to combat terrorism, notably authorising police to seal off or impose a curfew on parts of Jerusalem in case of friction or incitement to violence," the security cabinet said in a statement released early on Wednesday morning (14 October).

Another controversial move is the decision to not return to their families the bodies of "terrorists killed in terror attacks". Gilad Erdan, minister for public security, said on Twitter: "The terrorist's family turns his funeral into a display of support for terror and incitement. We cannot allow that."

Another measure will be the confiscation and demolition of "terrorists' homes" and revocation of their permanent residency. "In addition to the demolition of terrorists' homes, no new construction will be permitted," said the security cabinet statement.

Punitive demolitions are firmly established and although they were halted in 2005 after the end of the Second Intifada (2000-2005), the phenomenon has re-emerged over the past 12 months. On 6 October, the Israeli army bulldozed the homes of the men who carried out a frenzied knife, gun and axe attack on a synagogue in West Jerusalem. In the wake of this week's attacks in Jerusalem, the Israeli government has hinted that it would re-apply the policy to future terrorist attacks.

The measures were taken after a Day of Rage declared by Palestinian factions resulted in three Israelis killed and more than 20 wounded in stabbing and shooting attacks in Jerusalem and central Israel.

Later that day, a Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank's city of Bethlehem, according to doctors. Many of the recent assailants were from occupied East Jerusalem, which has a mostly Arab population.