Israel’s security establishment believes that home demolitions bolster deterrence and prevent further terrorist activity.

By JNS

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that it would be demolishing the Samaria homes of four terrorists responsible for murdering six Israelis and wounding nine others.

The confiscation and demolition orders were issued by the IDF after the families of the terrorists, all of whom had been killed by security forces, were given the opportunity to challenge the decision in an Israeli court.

The first two orders targeted the residences of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Mohammad Nazal and Mohammad Zakarneh in Qabatiya, near Jenin in northern Samaria.

The two were part of a cell that carried out a Jan. 6 shooting near the town of Al-Funduq in which three Israelis were slain.

Another order was issued for the home of Wael Lahlouh, a Qabatiya resident responsible for the Aug. 11 Jordan Valley shooting in which Yonatan Deutsch, 23, was murdered and another Israeli was wounded.

The fourth home to be demolished is that of Mohammad Daraghmeh, of Tubas, near Nablus, who killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded eight, including two seriously, at an army post near the village of Tayasir on the morning of Feb. 4.

The demolition of terrorists’ homes has been a subject of controversy for years. Israel’s security establishment believes that the policy bolsters deterrence and prevents further terrorist activity.

In 2023, demolitions were virtually halted, according to an Israel Hayom investigation carried out with the Im Tirtzu NGO.

However, in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the military has picked up the pace, issuing orders for a significant number of terrorists’ residences.