The High Court of Justice has issued a temporary restraining order against the Israel Defense Force, preventing it from sealing the homes of the parents of the terrorists who kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldier Nachshon Waxman.
Justice Yitzhak Zamir issued the order after the parents of Abdel Kareem Bader and Taisir Natshe appealed to the High Court following the receipt of notice from the IDF that it intended to seal their homes.
Bader and Natshe were two of the three Hamas terrorists who were killed when IDF commandos attempted to rescue Waxman on Oct. 14. The terrorists killed Waxman before they were killed during the commando raid.
Israel has adopted the policy of sealing or demolishing the homes of terrorists in an attempt to prevent them from launching suicide attacks on Israelis.
In the petitions, which were submitted separately, the parents said that sealing the homes of terrorists in these cases would be “an inhuman punishment people who are innocent of crime.”
The parents said they had no knowledge of their sons’ activities.
In a separate case, a five-justice panel is currently considering a similar appeal brought by the family of Salah Assawi, the terrorist who carried out the Oct. 19 bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv that resulted in the deaths of 23 people.
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, which filed the petition on behalf of Assawi’s family, said the demolition of the home would have no punitive effect, since the bomber was already dead. They also argued that it was unlawful to punish the family, which was innocent of the crime.
The state argued that the demolitions are an effective deterrent against future terrorist attacks. The state also argued that the family had been in contact with Assawi and that one of his brothers knew in advance of his plans to carry out the murderous attack.
In light of the gravity of the bombing, security considerations come above the rights of individuals, the state said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
