IDF prepares to demolish home of Fuld’s killer,

IDF troops raided the West Bank town of Yatta and began mapping for demolition the home of the teenaged Palestinian terrorist who murdered Ari Fuld outside a shopping mall in Gush Etzion on Monday.

The IDF carried out houseto-house searches in Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin’s home village near Hebron, questioned his relatives, and confiscated work permits and material from his home to be used for investigation.

American-born Fuld, a father of four, was standing between the Gush Etzion junction mall and the Rami Levi supermarket when he was stabbed in the back by Jabarin, who had no security-related history.

Mortally wounded, Fuld chased his Palestinian attacker, jumped over a short stone wall and shot him before collapsing. He was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center where he succumbed to his wounds.

Jabarin, who was shot by Fuld and another armed civilian, was evacuated in moderate condition and fully conscious to Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.

A controversial tactic, Israeli officials say home demolitions are a key deterrent to stop other potential attackers, but Palestinians and human rights groups criticize the army for using collective punishment by demolishing the homes of the terrorist’s families.

A senior IDF officer in the West Bank recently told The Jerusalem Post while there is no exact science to stopping terror attacks, home demolitions have led to attacks being thwarted after parents who inform the military if they suspect their child might be planning an attack.

According to Army Radio, Jabarin’s parents warned Palestinian Authority security officials as well as IDF troops that they believed he was planning to carry out an attack after he went missing Sunday morning following an argument with his father about going to school.

His mother, meanwhile, went to the Meitar checkpoint in the southern West Bank and told troops that her son was on his way to carry out an attack, but did not provide any details as to when or where she thought it would happen.

Jabarin stabbed Fuld at around the same time she warned troops.

Ibrahim Ali, mayor of Yatta, condemned the terror incident in an interview on Army Radio on Monday morning.

“I condemn every act of violence, both against Palestinians and against Israelis,” Ali said, adding that he knew the family of the terrorist responsible for the attack though not Jabarin himself.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.