IDF destroys home of Jewish teen’s killers, but victim’s father says too little, too late

Sorek’s father says deterrence was lost because it took so long for the army to punish the perpetrators.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The IDF razed the homes Wednesday night of the four Hamas terrorists who killed 19-year-old Dvir Sorek in August.

All the terrorists lived in Beit Kahil, a village near Hebron.

Two of them, cousins Nassir and Qassam Issafara, have already described to the police exactly how they carried out the stabbing attack, waylaying the yeshiva student carrying gifts for his teachers on a deserted road near the Migdal Oz community in Gush Etzion.

The two others, Ahmad Issafara and Yusuf Zahur, were indicted on other terror charges for their help in planning the crime.

Qassam’s wife was also charged with assisting the cell both before and after the attack.

The army said that villagers violently protested when the armed troops came in with heavy equipment to destroy the structures, hurling rocks and burning tires at the soldiers.

The victim’s father lamented the fact that it took the army some three and a half months to act.

Yoav Sorek told Channel 13 News, “It’s a shame this wasn’t done immediately, in a way that would strengthen deterrence and possibly prevent the next attack. The excessive caution and the right to delay via the courts ignores the fact that houses are not lives, you can rebuild them.”

“Deterrence is a matter of timing,” he added.

The government and IDF want to keep the threat of home destruction in Israel’s arsenal, saying that if potential terrorists know that their families will be affected as a result of their actions, it may stop them from carrying out attacks.

However, when the army announces that it plans to destroy terrorists’ home, the families are allowed to turn to the court to appeal the decision.

Israel’s Supreme Court has prevented home demolitions, or ordered that demolitions be limited to only parts of the structure. In this specific case, the Supreme Court rejected the families’ petitions at the end of October.