Army issues demolition order for home of Old City terrorist

Israeli security forces overnight Sunday issued a demolition order for the home of a Palestinian terrorist who murdered an Israeli man in Jerusalem’s Old City on March 18, the army said.

In the attack, 28-year-old Abd al-Rahman Bani Fadel fatally stabbed Adiel Kolman, a 32-year-old father of four from the Kochav Hashachar settlement.

Separately on Monday morning, Israeli troops arrested eight Palestinians in overnight raids throughout the West Bank for suspected involvement in terror and taking part in violent riots.

In Hebron troops discovered a Carl Gustav-style submachine gun, an air pistol and ammunition.

The homemade or craft-produced rudimentary automatic weapon has been used in the majority of shooting attacks on Israeli civilians and security personnel. It’s not accurate and it has a limited range, but it’s cheap and powerful enough to cause mayhem and death — and it’s nearly impossible to prevent its production.

Fadel’s home in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba, near the West Bank city of Nablus, had been mapped out by the army for demolition on the day following the attack.

Fadel, a father of two, was shot dead by police during the deadly terror attack.

Kolman had worked in the archaeological digs at the City of David for the last five years.

Shortly before 5 p.m. on March 18, Fadel walked up to Kolman on Hagai Street and stabbed him repeatedly in the upper body, critically wounding him. The assailant was said to have spoken to a number of vendors in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter before carrying out the attack.

The terrorist then fled the scene, but was spotted by nearby police officers, who opened fire, fatally wounding him.

Hours after the attack, the Shin Bet security service revealed that Fadel had entered Israel with a five-day permit that allowed him into the city to look for work.

The Palestinian resident of Aqraba did not have known ties to any Palestinian terrorist organization — if he had, he would not have received the work permit — but, in light of the attack, the Shin Bet said it was re-investigating the issue.

Once common in the Old City, stabbing attacks have waned in recent months. However, tensions have been on the rise around Jerusalem since US President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel’s capital in December. This month, he also announced that the US Embassy would be moving from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14.

Israel made frequent use of home demolitions until 2005, when the government decided to stop employing the measure. However, in 2014, it was brought back into use. There is a dispute among security analysts and officials over the utility of home demolitions in combating terrorism, with some seeing it as an effective deterrent against terror attacks and others as an ineffective form of collective punishment.

Jacob Magid and Alexander Fulbright contributed to this report.