The Israel Defense Forces in Hebron Thursday morning destroyed the upper floor of the house of the terrorist Mohammad Jabari, who murdered Ronan Hanania and wounded two others four months ago in a shooting attack in the Israeli settlement Kiryat Arba. The IDF spokesman announced that the floor was destroyed after a petition to stay the action residents submitted to the court was rejected.
Throughout the night between Wednesday and Thursday, Palestinian youth called for the closure of roads and streets in Hebron to protect the house. The Palestinians reported that the Israeli security forces asked the neighbors to stay away from the compound of the house and not to go out for a walk in the area in the coming hours. The brother of the terrorist told the Palestinian media that 50 houses in the area were temporarily evacuated in preparation for the strategic explosion of the second floor of the house.
The property will be blown up in the following hour.
โ Adam Albilya - ืืื ืืืืืืื (@AdamAlbilya) February 16, 2023
Attached is documentation from the demolition preparation inside the terrorist's house, and drone photos from the last few days. pic.twitter.com/n7xvFSEixc
In the meantime, during the demolition of the floor, the residents of Kiryat Arba, including Midad Hasno the son of Avraham Hasno who was murdered in a stampede attack near Hebron in 2015, placed loudspeakers near the fence, a few feet from the terrorist's house, and played patriotic Israeli songs at high volume.
On October 20, Hanania arrived with his son at a Palestinian grocery store in the area between Kiryat Arba and Hebron, where the terrorist Muhammad Jabari opened fire on them with an M-16 rifle. Magen David Adom (MaDa) medic Ofer Ohana and a security guard arrived immediately afterward and were also fired upon by Jabari, seriously injuring the medic and lightly wounding the security guard.
Video: Israeli occupation blows up, earlier this morning, the house of Palestinian martyr Mohammad Jabari in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron as a punitive measure. pic.twitter.com/rAq2Qk1nOD
โ Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 16, 2023
After a brief car chase ended in the running over of the terrorist, an IDF combat soldier on leave who was at the scene shot and killed Jabari. Another person, a Palestinian was also slightly injured by Jabari and was evacuated by the Red Crescent. Hanania's condition was initially defined as critical, but he was later pronounced dead at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
Jabari was a member of the Az Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Four days before the attack, the terrorist, who worked as an Islamic education teacher at an elementary school in Hebron, wrote a post on Facebook with quotes from verses from the Koran. "Have you thought about entering heaven?" he wrote there, among other things. The destruction of his living quarters in his Hebron house was initially mapped out by the Shin Bet.
Watch| Early today, Israeli occupation forces punitively target with bombs the house of Palestinian martyr Mohammad Jabari, who was shot dead in October 2022 in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/bshzQdPQEe
โ Al-Jarmaq News (@Aljarmaqnetnews) February 16, 2023
Jabariโs brother is also a convicted terrorist, previously sentenced to two life sentences, and was released from prison in the prisoner swap deal for Gilad Shalit 11 years ago; after the attack, he was deported to Gaza.
The Israeli Kiryat Arba-Hebron council said in response to the demolition of the house: "We congratulate the security forces who destroyed the home of the despicable terrorist. Our response to terrorist incidents should be sharper and faster. With God's help we will be a free people in our country and our enemies will be the ones who live under deterrence from us."
IDF forces have razed the Hebron home of a terrorist who killed an Israeli a few months ago @jregevi24news discusses the policy's effectiveness in stopping would-be terrorists from committing attacks #i24NEWSDesk | @hamdahsalhut pic.twitter.com/p65oNYIVGF
โ i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) February 16, 2023
Israel's policy of destroying the homes of terrorists has long been controversial as the punishment is viewed as punitive. The policy is meant to serve as a deterrent and has been made moot by the Palestinian Authority's 'Pay-For-Slay' policy. Families of terrorists receive compensation for not just their kin who died committing an act of terror, but also for property destroyed or damaged by Israel during the investigation. Estimates have the level of compensation at a level that in many cases, is higher than the worth of the property being destroyed.
