Israel’s army (IDF) on Sunday issued an order to demolish the home of the Palestinian gunman who killed five people in the Israeli central city of Bnei Brak last month.
On March 29, Diaa Hamarsheh from the West Bank village of Ya’bad killed four civilians in the ultra-Orthodox town near Tel Aviv, before being killed in a shootout with police, one of which was his fifth victim.
The IDF began the process of demolishing Hamarsheh’s house in Ya’bad just a day after the attack.
Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, Israeli forces raided Ya’bad and arrested eight Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities, some of whom had links to the attack in Bnei Brak.
The gunman’s family can appeal the demolition order to Israel’s Supreme Court, but such attempts are rarely successful.
In some cases, though, the court may limit the demolition order to only parts of the house used by the assailant.
Israel defends the practice of razing the homes of terrorists to deter future attacks, and officials argue that speed is key, saying the deterrent factor degrades over time.
Over the years, however, a number of Israeli defense officials have questioned the effectiveness of the practice, and human rights activists denounce it as unfair collective punishment.
Tensions continue to escalate between Israelis and Palestinians, against the backdrop of a spate of attacks in Israeli cities.
The IDF is intensifying its activities in the West Bank in an attempt to quell the spiral of violence.
Looks like a nice kid. Thank you Matzav for posting his picture. You make the BBC proud.
How does one say Goochile in Arabic?
“He wuz a goochile, who don’t nevuh hurt nobody, and he was turning his life around”, as heard in every American courtroom.
Was this creature also a promising, aspiring, or up-and-coming artist, in the Islamic version of rap genre? A future rocket surgeon, perhaps?