IDF demolishes terrorists' homes
Engineering forces in Jerusalem destroy houses of two terrorists who killed Israeli civilians, while one room is sealed in home of attempted assassin of Yehuda Glick.
In addition, a room was sealed in the house of Muataz Hijazi, who tried to assassinate Jewish activist Yehuda Glick last year.
The attack committed by Jaabis killed Rabbi Avrohom Wallis and wounded seven other civilians. Police shot him dead at the scene.
The family asked to suspend the demolition until the end of the civil proceedings. The prosecution argued that evidence showed that the incident was clearly a terror attack.
In November 2014, Abu Jamil Ghasan and Uday Abu Jamal entered the synagogue in Har Nof. The pair opened fire and attacked congregants with axes, killing four civilians and a police officer. Both terrorists were killed during exchange of fire with police at the scene.
Hijazi attempted to assassinate Yehuda Glick in Jerusalem last year, and was killed a day later.
"Anti-terrorist police units surrounded a house in the Abu Tor neighborhood to arrest a suspect in the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick, immediately and upon arrival they were shot at," Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said at the time. "They returned fire and shot and killed the suspect."
A statement released by the military on Tuesday read:"The IDF will continue to implement the directions of the political echelon while cooperating with all the security bodies, and will not hesitate to take all the legal steps at its disposal in order to hurt terrorists and the elements that aid them in order to deter further terror attacks."
Tuesday's demolitions occurred after a nighttime discussion by the political-security cabinet, which decided to take a number of steps, including demolishing terrorists' homes and using administrative detentions against rioters.
"We will not tolerate a situation in which a Jewish woman is stabbed and people refuse to help her, curse her and kick her," said Prime Minister Benhamin Netanyahu. "We will bring them to justice. We have approved tougher action against terrorism with a number of means and on a number of fronts. We will continue to do so as much as necessary, and let it be clear – we will defeat terrorism, as we have in the past."
A large protest rally was held Monday night by the Samaria Regional Council with the participation of thousands outside the Prime Minister's Residence against the government's handling of terrorism.
Among the speakers were Welfare Minister Haim Katz (Likud), Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) and MK Oren Hazan (Likud). The bereaved mother Edva Biton, whose four-year-old daughter Adele was killed in a terrorist attack in 2013, turned to Netanyahu and said "enough of the current policy."
