IDF intends to raze home of Palestinian terrorist who killed Israeli-US man

The Israeli military informs the family of Maher Shalloun, a Palestinian accused of killing dual American-Israeli citizen Elan Ganeles in a terror attack earlier this year, that their home is slated for demolition.

On February 27, Shalloun and Luai Ma’arouf allegedly opened fire at Ganeles’s car on the Route 90 highway near Jericho in the West Bank, killing him, before opening fire at several other cars in the area.

The pair were arrested several days after the attack, and in March, the Israel Defense Forces measured Shalloun’s home in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho, in the first step before demolition.

Shalloun’s family has now been formally notified of the military’s intention to raze their home, the Israel Defense Forces says.

As a matter of policy, Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.

Shalloun’s family can still appeal the decision to raze the home to Israel’s High Court of Justice. But such attempts rarely succeed, though in some cases the court can limit the demolition order to only the parts of the house used by the accused terrorist.