IDF completes demolition of Sarona terrorist’s home
Security forces have completed the demolition of a room in the home of one of the Palestinian terrorists who killed four Israeli civilians in a shooting attack at Tel Aviv’s popular Sarona market last year.
The room, in a building in the West Bank village of Yatta near Hebron belonging to Khaled Mahamrah, had already been partially demolished by the army but was fully sealed after the family was found to still be using the space in violation of an order forbidding them to do so.
In the June 2016 Sarona Market attack, cousins Khalid and Muhammad Muhamra opened fire on customers sitting at Max Brenner killing Michael Feige, Ilana Naveh, Ido Ben Ari, Mila Mishayev and wounding 16 others.
The two fled the scene but were almost immediately detained nearby. Another accomplice, Younis Ayash Musa Zayn, was arrested shortly thereafter.
The High Court authorized the demolition of the homes of the two cousins a month after the attack – Khaled’s on the second floor of a building and of Muhammad’s on the third floor of another building.
An official indictment filed by the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor’s Office at the time stated that the two had been inspired by Islamic State but that neither had been formally recruited or received training or assistance from the terrorist group.
According to the court’s decision: “There is reason to believe that there was an environment in the houses where the attackers lived, encouraging them, in one way or another, to be involved in security crimes against Israeli
Zayn’s bedroom was sealed off in November 2016 “as recommended by the political echelon” and was carried out in cooperation with Border Police and the Civil administration. Zayn was charged with “planning the attack, providing the weapons and ammunition used for training for it and carrying it out, and hiding [the guns] in his house,” an army statement said at the time.
A controversial tactic, Israeli officials say home demolitions are a key deterrent to stop other potential attackers, but Palestinians and human rights groups argue that it is a form of collective punishment.
Overnight Tuesday the army demolished the home of the Palestinian terrorist who killed three Israelis in a shooting attack in the West Bank settlement of Har Adar in September.
Nimer Jamal killed two civilian security guards – Youssef Othman, 24, of Abu Gosh, and Or Arish, 25, of Har Adar – as well as 20-year-old Solomon Gavriya of Be’er Ya’acov in a shooting attack outside the West Bank settlement. Military security coordinator Amit Steinhart was left seriously wounded.