Jerusalem - Israeli legislators on Wednesday approved a draft bill that would allow the state to confiscate the property of Arab Israelis and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem who carry out attacks in Israel, news reports said.

The Knesset approved the draft bill, initiated by Gideon Sa'ar of the hardline Likud party, by 50 to 13 against in a preliminary reading, Israel Radio reported.

Three more readings need to be passed before the bill becomes a law.

The bill is meant to be a "deterrent," Sa'ar said.

The Knesset also passed a second draft bill in a preliminary reading under which militants, their families and those who assist them could be stripped of their status as "permanent residents" in Israel.

Yohanan Plesner of the centrist, ruling Kadima Party initiated the bill and said it too would deter East Jerusalem residents from aiding militants.

The bills follow just days after a Palestinian living in East Jerusalem went on the rampage with a bulldozer in West Jerusalem, killing three Israelis and wounding dozens.

Authorities in Israel began looking into the legality of acting against militants from East Jerusalem after an attack on a yeshiva, or Jewish religious school, in the city in March.

Eight students were killed by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

Israel captured East Jerusalem along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It later annexed the eastern section of the city, granting what it calls "permanent residency status" to the more than 200,000 Palestinians living there.

Israel saw a decline in the number of attacks by militants following the construction of its controversial security barrier along the West Bank.

But the two attacks in which the perpetrators were from East Jerusalem have raised new fears. (dpa)