JERUSALEM (TSTIME) — Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished the home of a Palestinian gunman who allegedly killed a female Israeli soldier last year in an attack that led to a manhunt and repression in the East Jerusalem neighborhood where he lived.
The house demolitions took place in the early weeks of Israel’s new far-right government, which has cracked down on Palestinians and pledged to ramp up settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Police said about 300 officers and troops entered the Shuafat refugee camp to demolish the home of Uday Tamimi, who Israel says was behind the deadly shooting at a checkpoint in October.
After the shooting that killed the 19-year-old soldier, the attacker fled, leading to a weeks-long manhunt and tight restrictions around Shuafat. As part of the search, Israeli security forces sealed off the camp’s entrances and exits, bringing the lives of its estimated 60,000 residents to a standstill.
Tamimi was eventually shot and killed after opening fire on guards at the entrance to Maale Adumim, a sprawling Israeli settlement in the West Bank east of Jerusalem.
Israel’s new National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultra-nationalist who oversees the police, welcomed the demolition.
“This step is very important, but not nearly enough. We must destroy all terrorists’ homes and expel the terrorists themselves,” he said in a statement.
Israel demolished attackers’ homes well before the arrival of this current government, saying the tactic deters would-be attackers. The Palestinians and human rights organizations see it as a collective punishment.
