Israeli Supreme Court okays demolition of homes of Palestinian terrorists
Homes belong to terrorists who killed Eitam and Naama Heinkin as well as Malahi Rosenfeld and Danny Gonen
Israel's supreme court on Thursday gave its green light to the destruction of five homes belonging to Palestinians accused of taking part in deadly anti-Israeli attacks, the justice ministry said.
Three of the homes are located in the West Bank town of Nablus, belonging to the terrorists who killed Eitam and Naama Heinkin, shot dead in front of their children on October 1, triggering a wave of violence that spread to east Jerusalem and Israel.
The two other West Bank homes, near Ramallah and in the Qalandiya refugee camp, were linked to the murders of Malahi Rosenfeld, Danny Gonen in June.
On October 22, the supreme court had suspended the army's planned demolitions of several Palestinian homes, including the five cleared on Thursday.
Rights group condemn home demolitions as "disproportionate", causing hardship for entire families, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they are "one of the most efficient tools" in discouraging Palestinian attacks.
"Our problem is the disconnect between the act and the consequences of the act," Netanyahu said when the court ordered the freezing of the demolition, adding that we "therefore want to minimize the time and I hope that the High Court will make its decision as quickly as possible."
"If they decide, and usually they decide yes to demolish, it’s better to do so close to the incident, within a number of days rather than weeks or months," Netanyahu added.
(staff with AFP)