Security forces map Har Adar terrorist’s home for demolition
Troops dismantle mourning tent in Palestinian assailant’s village as part of operations in wake of attack in which 3 Israelis killed
Israeli security forces early Wednesday mapped the home of a terrorist who on Tuesday shot dead three Israeli guards at Har Adar ahead of its demolition.
In addition to mapping Nimer Mahmoud Ahmad Jamal’s home in the Palestinian village of Bayt Surik, security forces dismantled a mourning tent for him, and also arrested a number of his family members, the Israel Defense Forces said.
It was not immediately clear which family members were arrested. On Tuesday the IDF and Border Police arrested two of Jamal’s brothers after sealing off Bayt Surik. Reports in Palestinian media said Jamal’s father was also arrested.
The IDF said that during the overnight operation in Bayt Surik and Biddu, both of which are near Har Adar, security forces confiscated “terror money” and carried out searches for illegal weapons.
The army also said that in the wake of the attack, “forces will continue to operate in the area in order to prevent terror, and maintain safety and order alongside security and quality of life.”
During the attack, 37-year-old Jamal took a pistol out of his shirt and shot at a group of security officers who were opening the back gates of Har Adar to Palestinian laborers.
One border police officer, Solomon Gavriyah, 20, and two private security guards — Youssef Ottman, 25, of the nearby Arab Israeli community of Abu Ghosh, and Or Arish, 25, of Har Adar — were killed in the attack.
All three were buried later in the day.
In response to the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would demolish Jamal’s home and rescind the work permits held by his relatives, while Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party said it would revive a bill that would apply the death penalty to convicted terrorists.
In the overnight raid’s, security forces also confiscated thousands of shekels of “terror money” near Qalqilya and the Jenin refugee camp, the IDF said.
The army said 15 suspects were arrested throughout the West Bank, including three for “popular terrorism,” a catchall term used by security forces to denote violent rioting such as rock throwing and tire burning.
The IDF also said the entirety of Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs was opened to Jewish visitors and that some 10,000 Jews, among them Israel’s chief rabbis, visited the holy site for pre-Yom Kippur overnight services.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is considered holy in both Judaism and Islam, has been divided between Jewish and Muslim worshipers since 1994, when an American-born Jewish extremist shot and killed 29 Palestinian worshipers.
In addition, the army said it escorted Jewish worshipers to the Shalom Al Yisrael synagogue in the Palestinian city of Jericho, during which Palestinians threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces.
The IDF said one Palestinian was lightly injured when security forces responded with fire.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
