JERUSALEM (JTA) — The home of the family of a Palestinian man who killed two Jewish Israelis at a West Bank factory has been nearly rebuilt three months after it was partially razed by the Israeli army as punishment.
A photo of the new home in Shweika, located near Tulkarem, was published Sunday on the official Fatah party’s Facebook page.
Israeli security forces partially demolished the home in December four days after Ashraf Naalwa, 23, was killed by Israeli troops who came to arrest him following a two-month manhunt. Some areas of the building were left alone after Israel determined that the family members living there did not assist in the terror attack.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Naalwa shot and killed Kim Levengrond Yehezkel, 29, a mother of one from Rosh Haayin, and Ziv Hajbi, a 35-year-old father of three from Rishon Lezion. Both had been tied up and shot at close range.
Naalwa 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.
The Israeli military believes that home demolitions are a key deterrent to stop other potential attackers. Human rights organizations say the demolitions amount to collective punishment.
