Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri
Photo courtesy of Channel 2
Scene of Sbarro attack
Photo courtesy of Channel 1
Court denies Sbarro bomber family's damages claim
Relatives of terrorist who killed 15 Israelis, wounded 130 in 2001 suicide bombing in Jerusalem restaurant demands State make indemnities for demolishing their Jenin home. Court quashes motion, deems razing legal act of deterrence
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court denied a restitution claim filed by the family of the suicide bomber who carried out the 2001 attack on the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem.
The family demanded monetary compensation from the State for razing their house, in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri blew himself up in the middle of the Sbarro restaurant on August 9, 2001. The deadly attack, which included a 70kilogram (15-pound) explosives belt rigged with nails, nuts and bolts, claimed the lives of 15 people, including seven children, and left 130 wounded.
The Israel Defense Forces was ordered to tear down the al-Masri family home one year later.
Judge Yoel Tsur, presiding over the hearing, ruled Monday that razing and sealing off of terrorists' homes was a legal act of war. Tsur cited a Supreme Court ruling stating that such an act could be used as a measure of deterrence and that it complies with international law.
The ruling also dismissed the plaintiff's claims that the demolition itself was careless, noting that the soldiers tasked with the miss took every precaution necessary – the razing was planned by an IDF officer who was an engineer by training and was preformed at nights, as means of minimizing the presence of civilians in its vicinity.
The plaintiffs, continued Judge Tsur, were given ample time to move out and remove their belongings from the house and the house was torn down, using explosives, only after the soldiers canvassed the premises and ensured it was empty.
