JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli troops demolished the home of a Palestinian indicted in the Passover eve murder of a senior police officer.
The home of Ziad Awad located in the West Bank village of Idhna, near Hebron, was razed early Wednesday morning a day after Israel’s Supreme Court permitted the demolition. Israeli human rights organizations had petitioned to stop the action.
Awad has been charged in the April 14 murder of Police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrachi. He is alleged to be the gunman who fired at civilian vehicles traveling near Hebron, killing Mizrachi, critically injuring his wife and wounding a child traveling in a second car. The shooter fled the scene.
The apartment at the top of the building, where Awad resided, was demolished, but two other apartments and storage areas owned by Awad’s brother were to be left intact.
Awad and his son, Izz Eddin Hassan Ziad Awad, 18, were arrested last month. The teen admitted under questioning that his father had shared with him his intentions to execute a terror attack against Israelis on Passover.
Awad, who was released in the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange, is a Hamas operative who has been jailed previously for the murder of Palestinians who were believed to be cooperating with Israeli security forces. Awad told his son, according to the IDF, that “according to the Islamic religion, those who kill Jews go to heaven.” The son led police to the weapon used in the attack.
The Supreme Court justices said in their decision that despite pleas that the home not be destroyed because it would harm other innocent family members, the family shared the guilt because it was aware of Ziad Awad’s plans and collaborated with him.
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