IDF razes West Bank homes of terrorists who carried out deadly attacks last year
Residences of Younis Hilan, who stabbed to death Shalom Sofer in al-Funduq on October 25, and Muhammed Souf, who murdered three Israelis near Ariel on November 15, demolished
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israeli military early Wednesday morning demolished the homes of two Palestinians who carried out deadly terror attacks in the West Bank last year, the Israel Defense Forces said.
In the West Bank village of Hajjah, the IDF used bulldozers to raze the home of Younis Hilan, who stabbed 63-year-old Shalom Sofer as he exited a store in al-Funduq on October 25, a Palestinian village near the settlement of Kedumim.
In the village of Hares, the IDF carried out a controlled demolition of the home of Muhammed Souf, 18, who murdered three Israelis near the West Bank settlement of Ariel on November 15.
As a matter of policy, Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks. The efficacy of the policy has been hotly debated even within the Israeli security establishment, while human rights activists denounce the practice as unjust collective punishment.
Hilan was arrested several hours after the stabbing following a manhunt in the area of the attack. He was charged in December with intentionally causing the death of Sofer — the military court’s equivalent of murder — and other security offenses.
Souf went on a stabbing and car-ramming spree at the Ariel Industrial Park and a nearby highway on November 15, killing Tamir Avihai, 50, Michael Ladygin, 36, and Motti Ashkenazi, 59, and seriously wounding three others. He was shot dead by soldiers and armed civilians some 20 minutes after beginning his rampage.
During the overnight demolitions, the IDF said suspects hurled stones and launched fireworks at troops.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the Israeli military conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.
In overnight arrest raids across the West Bank, troops detained 13 wanted Palestinians, the IDF said Wednesday morning.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 19 people dead since the beginning of the year and several more seriously hurt.
At least 96 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.
