Army to demolish homes of suspects in deadly West Bank stabbing

The Israel Defense Forces will demolish the homes of two Palestinians accused in the fatal stabbing of yeshiva student and off-duty soldier Dvir Sorek, after an appeal against the move was thrown out.

Sorek’s body was found in early August outside the West Bank settlement of Migdal Oz south of Jerusalem; Nasir and Qasseem Asafra were nabbed by Israeli forces days later and accused of attacking Sorek after he got off a bus late at night.

The military notified the families of the terrorists of its intentions to demolish the homes in the Hebron-area village of Beit Khalil earlier this month and gave them an opportunity to appeal the decision.

“The demolition orders were signed after the appeals by the families against the demolitions were rejected,” the army said Tuesday.

It is not immediately clear when the military will carry out the orders.

Eighteen-year-old Sorek’s body was found in the early hours of August 8 on a road leading to the religious seminary in Migdal Oz, where he was studying as part of hesder, a program that combines military service with Jewish study.

The terrorists fled the scene following the attack, leading security forces on a 48-hour manhunt before the suspects were arrested in Beit Kahil at approximately 3 a.m. the following day.

Nazir’s brother, Akrama, and Qassem’s wife, Ines, were also arrested in the raid.

A vehicle belonging to one of the suspects was also confiscated in the joint Shin Bet-Border Police-IDF raid. The army said that the car was “presumably” used in the attack.

Israel says the practice of demolishing terrorists’ homes is an effective means of discouraging future attacks, though it has been criticized by human rights groups as a form of collective punishment and by some analysts as an ineffective deterrent measure.