Israel has sealed the home of an east Jerusalem man who killed seven people outside a synagogue, in a preliminary step ahead of the expected demolition of the building, as two Palestinian men died from Israeli fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved an order to seal the home of a second Palestinian shooter — a 13-year-old boy who wounded two Israeli men in east Jerusalem on Saturday.

His Cabinet also took steps toward approving other punitive measures against the families of Palestinian attackers, including potentially stripping them of citizenship rights and deporting them.

The moves by Israel, along with escalating violence, further raised tensions as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in the region.

Mr Blinken’s high-wire diplomatic act, focused largely on restoring calm, begins Monday after he completes a brief visit to Egypt.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli police sealed up the east Jerusalem home of a 21-year-old Palestinian attacker who killed seven people and wounded three outside a synagogue on Friday night during the Jewish Sabbath.

The attacker was shot and killed by police.

“We sealed the home of the terrorist who carried out the horrendous attack in Jerusalem, and his home will be demolished,” Mr Netanyahu told his Cabinet.

“We are not seeking an escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario. Our answer to terrorism is a heavy hand and a strong, swift and precise response,” he said.

The planned demolition is among a series of punitive steps, including plans to “strengthen” its West Bank settlements, announced by Israel in the wake of the twin shootings.

Later on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet would seal the family home of the 13-year-old shooter as well.

Israel typically demolishes attackers’ homes only in deadly attacks. The boy’s victims were both badly wounded but survived Saturday’s shooting.

His office also said the Cabinet was pushing ahead with plans that could strip residency and citizenship rights of the families of Palestinian attackers, and potentially deport them to the occupied West Bank.

Such moves have been condemned by human rights groups as collective punishment.

The weekend shootings followed a deadly Israeli raid in the West Bank on Thursday that killed 10 Palestinians, most of them militants.

In response, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, triggering a series of Israeli air strikes in response.

The deaths of two more Palestinians on Sunday raised the Palestinian death toll from fighting this month to 34.

Mr Netanyahu on Sunday repeated his vow to “strengthen the settlements” in the occupied West Bank. He said that doing so was aimed at “sending a message to the terrorists that seek to uproot us from our land that we are here to stay.”

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged senior Palestinian and Israeli diplomats by phone on Sunday to do their utmost to avoid escalating a surge in violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank, his ministry said.

“Sergey Lavrov called on the Israeli and Palestinian partners to show maximum responsibility and refrain from any actions that could provoke further degradation of the situation,” it said in a statement.

Mr Lavrov also said there was an “acute” need for the “Quartet” of international mediators to restart peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian representatives, according to the statement.
with reuters