IDF gives home demolition notice to family of terrorist who killed 2

The military overnight Monday notified the family of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli soldier and a civilian in a terror attack last week that it plans to demolish their home, the army said Tuesday morning.

Omar Abu Laila, 18, was shot dead in a firefight with Israeli forces near Ramallah, following a two-day manhunt.

According to Israeli authorities, Abu Laila fatally stabbed Sgt. Gal Keidan at the Ariel junction, grabbed the soldier’s gun and opened fire at passing vehicles, hitting Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, before stealing a vehicle and fleeing the scene.

The terrorist then drove to the nearby Gitai junction, where he opened fire again, wounding soldier Alexander Dvorsky. He then fled on foot into the nearby village of Bruqin.

Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, who was shot March 17 at the Ariel junction and succumbed to his injuries the following day (Nadav Goldstein/TPS)

Ettinger, a father of 12, later succumbed to his injuries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ettinger’s family during a condolence visit that he would attempt to legislate the death penalty for terrorists in Israel, but acknowledged there were legal obstacles.

Although the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once — in 1962 in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust.

IDF soldier Gal Keidan, who was killed in a stabbing and shooting attack by a Palestinian terrorist in the northern West Bank on March 17, 2019. (IDF Spokesperson)

In its Tuesday morning statement, the IDF also said a demolition order was signed Monday for the Hebron home of a Palestinian man suspected of the brutal rape and murder of an Israeli teenage girl in February.

The family was informed of the plans earlier this month.

Arafat Irfaiya, a 29-year-old resident of the southern West Bank city, has been held in custody since his arrest in Ramallah last month over the murder of Ori Ansbacher in Jerusalem.

Ori Ansbacher, who was murdered in Jerusalem February 7, 2019 (Courtesy)

Authorities are seeking to prosecute Irfaiya for murder in the context of a terrorist act, in addition to charges of rape.

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.