World Bulletin / News Desk

Israeli forces have demolished the East Jerusalem house of a Palestinian man who rammed his vehicle into a group of people in the occupied city, killing an Israeli baby and an Ecuadorian woman late last month.

The Israeli radio reported that the Israeli troops demolished the house of Abdel-Rahman al-Sheloudi in Silwan neighborhood in the early hours of Wednesday.

On October 22, al-Sheloudi plowed his car into a crowd in a light rail station in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, killing an Israeli baby and Ecuadorian woman and injuring others. He was shot in the immediate wake of the incident and died shortly later in hospital.

The incident was one of a series of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis that had occurred in Israel or the occupied territories within the last month.

In total, 11 Israelis had been killed – and several others injured – in a spate of attacks by Palestinians since late October amid high tension in the region.

The latest of the assaults left five Israelis dead and others injured when two Palestinians attacked a synagogue in West Jerusalem with guns and knives. They were killed on the spot in an exchange of fire with Israeli police.

Tension heightened further on October 30, when Israeli authorities sealed access to East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Asqa Mosque complex for several hours after an extremist rabbi was shot and injured by a Palestinian man in West Jerusalem.

Several Israeli parliamentarians have also entered the mosque complex in recent days, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries.

Groups of Jewish settlers, too, have forced their way into the site, prompting clashes between Muslim worshippers and Israeli forces.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

In September 2000, a visit to the iconic religious site by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon triggered what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against Israel's decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.