IDF demolishes home of terrorist behind light rail attack in J'lem
For first time since wave of recent attacks, security forces destroy home of terrorist in East Jerusalem; PM gave order to demolish home of terrorists behind J'lem synagogue attack.
IDF engineering forces demolished overnight Wednesday the home of Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludi, who plowed his car into a crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill station of Jerusalem's Light Rail on Oct. 22.
Three-month-old Haya Ziesl Baron and Ecuadorian Karen Mosquera (22) were killed in the attack, and five others were wounded. A-Shaludi was shot dead by police as he fled on foot.
The IDF reported that the destruction of the terrorist's home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan was part of the ongoing war against terror and its infrastructure, and was carried out in accordance with orders of the political echelon in collaboration with Israel Police and Border Police officer teams.
A statement issued by the security establishment noted that "the demolition of the homes of is a clear message to those seeking to harm citizens of Israel and security forces."
The message further added that "the IDF will continue to operate in accordance with the orders of the political echelon, in cooperation with security agencies and will not hesitate to use all legal means at its disposal to strike at terrorists and those who help them, and to deter further attacks."
This is the first demolition carried out by the IDF on the home of a terrorist in East Jerusalem since the string of recent attacks began.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security meeting in his office in Jerusalem on Wednesday night in wake of the brutal massacre of worshipers at a synagogue earlier in the day. During the meeting, Netanyahu gave the order to demolish the homes of the terrorists involved in the attack. Similar orders were given following other attacks that took place recently, but were not executed, Ynet reported Wednesday.
The defense establishment said that the demolition of other homes have been postponed due to court delays.
Demolition notices were already distributed to the family of Mohammed Naif Ja'abis (23) from Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem, who was behind a tractor attack in Jerusalem during Operation Protective Edge.
Another demolition notice was recently given to the family of Moataz Hejazi, a 32-year-old Islamic Jihad opeative from Abu Tor, who was behind the assassination attempt of Yehuda Glick.
Additionally, measures were made at the home of Nur a-Din Hashiya at the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus. Hashiya was behind the stabbing attack that killed the IDF soldier Almog Shiloni in Tel Aviv on Monday. The demolition was set for parts of his family's house.
Initial measures were also taken at destroy the home of Maher al-Ashlamun, the terrorist behind the stabbing attack in Alon Shvut that killed 26-year-old Dalia Lemkus on Monday. His family had already evacuated their home in Hebron, suspecting it would be demolished.
