IDF said to raid West Bank town of terrorist who carried out Adam stabbing

17-year-old Mohammed Yousef of Kobar stabbed to death 31-year-old Yotam Ovadia and wounded 2 others, before he was shot dead

Illustrative photo of IDF vehicles in the West Bank village of Kobar, west of Ramallah in the West Bank on July 27, 2018 ( AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANI)
Illustrative photo of IDF vehicles in the West Bank village of Kobar, west of Ramallah in the West Bank on July 27, 2018 ( AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANI)

IDF soldiers early Saturday reportedly raided the West Bank village of Kobar, home to the 17-year-old terrorist who carried out a deadly stabbing attack in an Israeli settlement.

Palestinian media said troops had gone into the village before dawn for a second time in a row, but gave no details on the soldiers’ activities. The IDF had no immediate comment.

On Friday, the army said it had raided the village, questioned a number of the terrorist’s family members and suspended their work permits. During that raid, clashes broke out between young Palestinians and soldiers firing tear gas.

“The rioters hurled large rocks and firebombs and rolled burning tires at [Israeli] troops, who responded with riot dispersal means,” an army statement said.

The clashes were over by mid-morning Friday, an AFP photographer said, though the army had established a checkpoint at the edge of the village.

Later in the day, in a rare move, Kobar’s mayor condemned the acts of 17-year-old resident Mohammed Yousef, who stabbed three residents of the Adam settlement on Thursday evening, killing 31-year-old Yotam Ovadia and wounding two others before he was shot dead.

“I believe that these operations are not correct nor humane. I will never support killing civilians. It is unacceptable and against international, religious and human customs,” said Ezzat Badwan, mayor of the village near Ramallah where Yousef lived with his family.

He also urged the IDF not to demolish Yousef’s home, as is common practice by Israel in response to attacks.

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“His parents and siblings had nothing to do with what he did. They do not deserve to pay the price for the actions of one of their family members,” Badwan said. He added that the family was relatively poor and would likely struggle to find funds to rebuild its home if it is demolished.

Mohammad Tareq Yousef, 17, who killed an Israeli man and injured two others in a terrorist attack at the settlement of Adam outside Jerusalem on July 26, 2018, and was shot dead. (via twitter)

Early Friday morning the IDF took measurements of the Yousef family’s home, a military spokeswoman said.

The army generally carries out measurements of homes in advance of demolishing them, she said, without clarifying if a decision had been made to knock down the family’s residence.

Local groups or factions sometimes collect funds to assist Palestinian families whose homes were demolished, to help them rebuild.

According to Jeff Halper, the head of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, however, this is a rare occurrence, and most families are left to fend for themselves.

Badwan added that he was surprised to learn that Yousef had carried out the stabbing attack.

Israeli security forces at the scene of a stabbing attack in the West Bank settlement of Adam, on July 26, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

“I would often see him walking around Kobar,” he said. “I would say hello to him and he would be too shy to respond. It is hard to understand how someone so shy would do what he did.”

Kobar was also the hometown of Omar al-Abed, the terrorist who in July 2017 murdered three Israelis during a home invasion and stabbing attack in the settlement of Halamish. Abed was shot during the attack and arrested. His family’s home was razed in the aftermath.

Israeli authorities are looking into a possible connection between the two terrorists.

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