The Israeli military plans to step up its enforcement efforts on the execution of demolition orders for terrorists' homes, Israel Hayom learned Thursday.
The directive followed a period of three years in which such orders were not, for the most part, carried out.
A statement to that effect, signed by GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nadav Padan, was presented to the High Court of Justice this week as part of a hearing on an appeal filed by a Palestinian terrorist's family seeking to have a demolition order quashed.
The appeal was filed by the family of Islam Naji, who in May dropped a marble slab on IDF Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky in the al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, killing him.
Naji, who was indicted for murder in July, resided in his family's four-story home in al-Amari. After mapping the building, the IDF ruled that two stories should be razed – the first floor, where he and his mother reside, and the fourth floor, from which he dropped the slab on Lubarsky's head.
This outline was based on previous High Court guidelines and was approved by Padan.
It was later discovered that military officials were unaware of the fact that another demolition order was already in place for the building. It was issued in 1990 over the terrorist conviction of another member of the Naji family.
At the time, the building was razed then illegally rebuilt. A second demolition order was never carried out.
This discovery led the Central Command's legal team to reassess the case, concluding that the entire building could be razed. The Justice Ministry signed off on the move, and a new demolition order was issued for the premises in August.
The case led to a wide-scale review of the enforcement of demolition orders issued for terrorists' homes. It found that between 2015 and 2018, only one such order was fully enforced.
Attorney Michael Litvak, who represents Betzalmo, a group describing itself as a "Jewish human rights organization," welcomed the IDF's decision to increase the enforcement of demolition orders.
"We welcome the IDF's decision and hope that from now on, it makes sure to see every terrorist's home razed to the ground."
