JERUSALEM (JTA) — The family home of the Palestinian man who killed two Israeli co-workers at a West Bank factory is slated to be demolished.
The Israel Defense Forces notified the family of Ashraf Walid Saliman Naalwa, 23, on Sunday night that the home will be razed, a method used by the military to deter future attacks. The family can appeal the decision until Thursday.
The IDF is searching for Naalawa, who fled after the attack in the Barkan Industrial Park.
He shot and killed Kim Levengrond Yehezkel, 29, and a mother of one from Rosh Haayin, and Ziv Hajbi, a 35-year-old father of three from Rishon Lezion attack. Yehezkel’s hands were bound and she was shot at close range. A 54-year-old woman also was injured in the attack.
Naalawa’s sister was arrested late last week in connection with the search for him days after other family members appealed to Naalawa on Israel’s Public Radio to turn himself in.
The Oct. 7 attack is reported to be the first of its kind in the Barkan Industrial Park, which is home to 160 factories that employ thousands of Israelis and Palestinians.
The gunman used an assault rifle and was caught on security cameras leaving the factory. He lived in the village of Shweika, near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, and had a permit to enter the Barkan settlement for work, but it is not known how he was able to bring the weapon into the industrial zone. He reportedly left behind a suicide note with a friend.
