Israeli security forces will destroy the home of Khaled Harusha – one of the terrorists who carried out a shooting attack in February in Huwara that ended the lives of Hillel and Yigal Yaniv, according to an IDF statement issued on Wednesday night.
Hillel, who was 22 years old at the time of his murder, was studying in the Kiryat Shmona Hesder Yeshiva and had recently completed his service in the Navy. Yagel, who was set to turn 20 two weeks after he was killed, was studying in the Givat Olga Hesder Yeshiva and was going to start the recruitment process for combat service in the IDF.
The terrorists used a car to ram into an Israeli vehicle that was driving through the town and then shot the Yaniv brothers at close range before fleeing the scene with a nationwide manhunt being launched to find them. While the mastermind of the plot and father of the other two co-conspirators – Abdel Fatteh Harusha – was killed in an IDF raid in March, his sons Khaled and Mohammad remain in police custody.
The IDF announced in May that they would demolish the home of Abdel Fatteh. The court order was issued after the appeal filed by the terrorist's family was rejected.
Manhunt leads to raid in Jenin
The terrorists then the scene – sparking a week-long manhunt that culminated in a March raid on Jenin to apprehend the perpetrators.
The raid in Jenin was carried out jointly by the IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police. Six Palestinians died in the raid and 26 more were wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. During the operation, Israeli forces were hit with heavy fire from armed locals, and they responded with hand-held rocket launchers.
Hamas called for an escalation of violence in the West Bank after the raid, stating “The crimes and massacres of the occupation will not frighten our people, but rather will increase their determination and strength in confronting the occupation and its settler militia.”
Tzvi Joffre, Yonah Jeremy Bob, Shira Silkoff and Hanan Lischinsky contributed to this report.