TEL AVIV – The IDF on Tuesday razed the home of a Palestinian terrorist who killed an Israeli man in a stabbing attack last month, the Defense Ministry said, adding that rioting Palestinians hurled Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs at soldiers involved in the demolition.
Seventeen-year-old Muhammad Yousef from the West Bank village of Kobar entered the Adam settlement outside Jerusalem and stabbed two people outside a playground before another resident shot and killed him.
Yotam Ovadia, 31, a father of two children under two, was stabbed multiple times. Ovadia was on his way to prepare a surprise romantic meal for his wife in honor of Tu B’Av, the Jewish Valentine’s Day, when he was attacked.
Israeli soldiers demolished Yousef’s home on Tuesday morning with a bulldozer. Two weeks ago, the terrorist’s family was informed about the upcoming demolition.
Dozens of Palestinians took to the streets in violent protest over the demolition, during which they “threw stones, hurled Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs, shot firecrackers and burned tires,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“During the Shiva [period of mourning] for Yotam Ovadia in the community of Adam, I told his widow and parents that we would shortly demolish the terrorist’s home,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman wrote on Twitter on Tuesday morning. “Tonight that issue got its closure.”
“We will continue fighting terror with an iron fist, we will continue building in Adam and in any other place where our citizens are being targeted,” Liberman added.
Shortly after the attack, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman paid a condolence call to the Ovadia family, marking the first time a top American diplomat has made an official visit to a West Bank settlement.
“Ambassador Friedman paid a visit today to the Ovadia family in the settlement community of Adam. The family is mourning the loss of Yotam [Ovadia], a 31-year-old father of two small children, who was stabbed to death by a terrorist last week,” a U.S. official said at the time. “The United States condemns in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism.”
The Palestinian Authority and the ruling Fatah party hailed the teenage terrorist Yousef as a “martyr.” Declaring Yusuf a martyr means his family will be eligible to receive a one-time grant of 6,000 shekels ($1,643) and a monthly allowance for life of 1,400 shekels ($383).
Separately, the Defense Ministry also reported on the arrest of eight terror suspects in the West Bank village of as-Samu near Hebron. A gun, bullets and a range of homemade weapons were found.
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