IDF issues demolition order for home of Hamas terrorist who killed Eli Kay

Move comes a month and a half after the attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, following attempts by Abu Shkaydam’s family to block it

By Judah Ari Gross 2 January 2022, 10:19 pm

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, the terrorist who killed an Israeli civilian and wounded four others in a shooting attack in East Jerusalem's Old City on November 21, 2021. (Facebook)

The military on Sunday issued a demolition order for the home of a Palestinian terrorist behind a deadly terror attack in November in Jerusalem’s Old City.

On November 21, Fadi Abu Shkhaydam opened fire at a number of Israeli men in the alleyways of the Old City, killing Eliyahu Kay and injuring four others, two of them seriously. Border Police officers returned fire, killing Abu Shkhaydam.

The military initiated the process of demolishing Abu Shkaydam’s home in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp shortly after the attack. His family appealed the decision in court, but their requests were rejected.

The seizure and demolition order for Abu Shkaydam’s home was signed by the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, as he is the relevant officer within Israeli territory, including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967 following that year’s Six Day War.

In the West Bank, the head of the IDF Central Command issues demolition orders.

Israel defends the contentious practice of razing the family homes of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults, and officials have argued that speed is essential, claiming that the deterrent factor degrades over time.

Eliyahu David Kay, killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem on November 21, 2021. (Facebook)

Over the years, however, a number of Israeli defense officials have questioned the efficacy of the practice, and human rights activists have denounced it as unfair collective punishment.