IDF gears up to raze homes of 2 Palestinian teen attackers

Houses of two 16-year-olds inspected by engineering troops; NGO says 64 houses mapped out in recent weeks

By Raoul Wootliff 15 December 2015, 12:51 pm

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Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.

Illustrative photo of a Palestinian woman walking amid the rubble of a house after Israeli security forces demolished the homes of two Palestinians behind attacks in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber in East Jerusalem, on October 6, 2015. (AFP/THOMAS COEX)

Israel Defense Forces troops entered Hebron and an adjacent village in the early hours of Tuesday morning to map out the homes of two Palestinians who carried out separate stabbing attacks in recent weeks. The mapping procedure is conducted ahead of home demolitions.

In Hebron, IDF soldiers and engineers took measurements of the family home of 16-year-old Lama al-Bakhri, who tried to stab an Israeli in the settlement of Kiryat Arba on Friday morning, the army said. Bakhri was shot and moderately to seriously wounded by IDF soldiers during the attempted stabbing.

Meanwhile, troops went to map the home of 16-year-old Mus’ab Ghanimat in the nearby Palestinian village of Surif. Ghanimat stabbed an Israeli soldier in October in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem. The soldier shot Ghanimat in the shoulder, and other troops shot him in the knee as he tried to flee.

Overnight Sunday combat engineering troops also mapped out the Nablus home of the Bassam Amin Muhammad Sayyah, one of the planners of the October 1 killing of Eitam and Naama Henkin.

The Israeli couple, both in their 30s, were driving in their car near Nablus with their four children when they came under attack from Palestinian gunmen. The two were shot dead in front of their children; the children, aged 9, 7, 4 and 4 months, were unharmed. On October 5, the Shin Bet security service announced it had arrested a five-member Hamas cell, including Sayyah, in connection with the attack.

In mid-November the IDF demolished the homes of three other members of the Hamas cell responsible, as part of a government policy aimed at deterring future attackers.

The NGO B’Tselem says the army has mapped out 64 houses for demolition in recent weeks.

The practice of demolishing the family homes of terrorists has been criticized by nongovernmental groups, but officials have defended its use as a deterrent against attacks.

Critics claim that in addition to being a form of collective punishment, house demolitions could motivate family members of terrorists to launch attacks themselves.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.