Violent clashes erupted overnight Wednesday, with Arabs hurling stones and throwing Molotov cocktails and explosive devices at IDF forces and the Border Police in the Al Omri refugee camp in Ramallah. The Israeli forces were on a mission to map out prior to demolition the home of the terrorist who murdered Duvdevan special forces fighter Ronen Lubarsky in May.
There were no casualties.
Two weeks ago, the IDF announced in an unusual move that it would demolish the entire building in which the terrorist, Islam Naji. Naji is accused of killing Lubarsky using a marble slab he threw at his head from an upper floor in his building. Lubarsky died of his wounds a few days later.
The decision to demolish the entire building was delivered to the family of the terrorist after an earlier announcement that only two floors of the building would be coming down. the IDF Spokesperson said that “the IDF will continue to act determinedly to thwart terror attacks and deter potential terrorists,” but did not guarantee that the correct number of floors to be demolished would always be announced.
The unexpected change from two stories to the entire building may have been the defense minister’s response to the constant jabbing he has been receiving from his nemesis, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who claims Liberman is soft on terrorism.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, for his part, said in a statement: “We are fighting terror with determination, we are going to demolish the entire four-story building, where the abominable terrorist lived, may his name be erased, who murdered the IDF combatant, Staff Sergeant Ronen Lubarsky, of blessed memory. The demolition will be carried out as soon as possible. There is no compromise in the war on terrorism. Only an iron hand.”