Jerusalem: Israeli security forces sealed off Wednesday the home of a Palestinian who stormed a West Jerusalem synagogue last year in one of the Holy City`s bloodiest attacks for years, his family said.
Armed with meat cleavers and a pistol, Uday Abu Jamal and his cousin, Ghassan Abu Jamal, killed four rabbis and a policeman before being shot dead in the November incident.
Authorities placed a demolition order on their homes as a punitive measure, but did not set a date.
Before dawn Wednesday, police and soldiers ejected Uday`s mother, father and four siblings from their home in Jabal Mukaber in east Jerusalem, the family said.
The home was then sealed, with iron bars welded across the doors and windows.
"They said they would be back to fill the house with concrete and close it off completely," said Uday`s brother, Muataz.
The family said they planned to live in a small annex to the house and on a tarpaulin-covered patio for the time being.
A score of security forces were deployed in the area around the home later in the day, and the police and army had no immediate comment.
The move came as Israel tightened restrictions on movement of Palestinians from the occupied territories during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following a string of Palestinian shooting and stabbing attacks.
Israel said Wednesday it was revoking permits for hundreds of Palestinians living in the West Bank to visit relatives in the Gaza Strip.
It has also tightened access for West Bank Palestinians for prayer at Jerusalem`s Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan. Men under 50 and women between 16-30 will only be admitted if they held individual permits.
Before the recent violence, Israel had eased some restrictions on movement during Ramadan.
