Five members of the family of Omar al-Abed, the Palestinian who murdered three members of an Israeli settler family in revenge for Palestinian deaths in last month’s violence around Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, are to be charged with a criminal offence for failing to inform the authorities of his intentions.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) prosecutors have moved to indict Abed’s father, Abed al-Jalil, his mother, Ibtisam al-Jalil, two of his brothers and another relative on the charge of “failing to prevent a crime”, a statement said on Wednesday.

According to the prosecution, the family were aware Abed was planning an attack, but did not try to stop him. The family home was demolished earlier this morning, the IDF said, a commonly used move which is supposed to act as a deterrent.

Metal detectors removed from holy site by Israel authorities

19-year-old Abed of Kobar snuck over a wall into the Israeli West Bank settlement town of Halamish on 21 July. He entered a home while a family were eating Shabbat dinner and stabbed to death 70-year-old Yosef Salomon and two of his children, Elad, 36, and Chaya, 46. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was hospitalised with serious wounds.

Another family member managed to lock the children present in another room and call the police. A neighbour heard the commotion and brought the incident to an end by shooting Abed non-fatally.

Abed was motivated by last month’s tensions over access to the al-Aqsa mosque. After the murder of two police officers near the holy site, which is also revered in Judaism and Christianity, Israeli authorities argued that new security measures such as metal detectors and CCTV cameras were necessary.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada The proclamation of the state of Israel is read by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948 © EPA Israel: From independence to intifada Sixty years on, an illuminated flag is shown in Tel Aviv this week © PA Israel: From independence to intifada Young Jews celebrate the proclamation of the state of Israel in 1948 © AFP/Getty Images Israel: From independence to intifada Palestinian children throw stones at a retreating Israeli tank during an incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin in August 2003 following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem © AP Israel: From independence to intifada How Israel's borders have changed - click image to enlarge © Independent Graphics Israel: From independence to intifada From 1948-50, the world's mostcelebrated war photographer Robert Capa captured extraordinary imagesof Israel's pioneering settlers. Here, Turkish immigrants arrive in Haifa © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada The Negba kibbutz, where the walls have been damaged by shells fired during the Israeli-Arab war © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum

The new equipment led to protests – many of which turned violent – because it was widely viewed by Palestinians as an attempt to exert greater control over the compound.

Abed stated his intentions in a Facebook post shortly before the attack was carried out – which it is alleged his family saw and discussed, but did not report.

“These are my last words. I am young, not yet 20... I had many dreams and aspirations, but what kind of life is this, with our women and youths murdered without justification?” he wrote.

“They desecrate the al-Aqsa mosque and we are asleep, it’s a disgrace that we sit idly by,” he said, adding that Palestinians who had weapons “only take them out for weddings and celebrations: are you not ashamed of yourselves?”