Salomon Family Members to IDF: Demolish Second Floor of Terrorist’s Home

YERUSHALAYIM
Omar Abed al-Jalil is brought to the courtroom for his trial at the Ofer military court on August 17. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Members of the family of the murdered Yosef  Salomon, his daughter Chaya and son Elad, Hy”d, on Thursday filed a petition with the High Court, demanding that the IDF completely demolish the home of the terrorist who carried out the attack. According to the family, evidence is more than sufficient that the family was aware of, and abetted the actions of Omar Abed al-Jalil – and should be punished accordingly.

Under current practice, the IDF demolishes terrorists’ homes – partially, with only the area where the terrorist himself lived included in the demolition order. In the case of al-Jalil, the IDF in August demolished the first floor of the family’s house in the village of Kubar, located next to Chalamish, where the murders took place.

The second floor, where the rest of the family lived, remains intact. The lawsuit says that the IDF’s actions have not been sufficient, and that demolishing just one level of a house, enabling use of the rest of the structure, was “strange,” and displayed Israeli weakness. The law, according to the petition, empowers the IDF to demolish the entire home and confiscate the land it is built on if the members of the family were involved in the attack – which was the case in the Salomon murders.

“If the murdered cannot respond to the crime committed against them, we, the living, can, and our actions can discourage cruel and destructive terrorism. The demolition of the home will bring at least some comfort, in that it will discourage others from acting in the same way,” the petition says.

According to the indictment handed down against al-Jalil in August, he left his house in the village of Kubar, located next to Chalamish, on the fateful Friday night of the murder, which took place on July 21st, and proceeded on foot to the Salomons’ home in Chalamish. Al-Jalil entered the home and began stabbing, striking down Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya, 46, and son Elad, 36. Al-Jalil’s stabbing spree was halted when an off-duty IDF soldier who lived across the street rushed into the Salomon home after hearing screams coming from the house. He opened fire and hit al-Jalil, injuring him moderately. Elad Salomon’s wife Michal was able to take refuge in an inner room in the house, protecting her five children from the murderer.

An IDF investigation yielded an indictment for members of the al-Jalil family, for acting as accessories to the terror attack, having foreknowledge of it, and assisting the terrorist to carry it out. Two brothers and an uncle of al-Jalil were sentenced to eight months in prison, while his father was sentenced to two months in prison. Al-Jalil’s mother, who was convicted for incitement, got a one-month prison term and a fine.

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