13-03-2025
Watch: Israel blows up home of Palestinian terrorist
This is the moment Israel destroyed the home of a dead Palestinian accused of murdering a father of five.
Aerial footage shows two large explosions in the lower storeys of the building in Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was formerly the home of Ali Khalil who, along with other members of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell, shot at an Israeli car in the city in June last year.
Amnon Muchtar, a 67-year-old who owned and operated a vegetable stall in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, near the border with the West Bank, was killed in the shooting. He leaves a wife and five children, and his son Nil called him 'a righteous man murdered by terrorists'.
Khalil was killed in a drone strike alongside seven other alleged gunmen, including Jamal Abu Haniyeh, in the West Bank town of Tulkarem in August.
Israel has a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of terror attacks.
The military released footage of the raid, which took place early on Wednesday morning, showing soldiers using sledgehammers and drilling holes in the building before rigging it with explosive charges.
The IDF said on Thursday: 'IDF and Israel Border Police forces operated in Qalqilya and demolished the residence of the terrorist Ali Khalil. Ali Khalil and other terrorists carried out a terror attack in Qalqilya, in which the civilian Amnon Mukhtar was murdered on June 22 2024.
'Israeli security forces will continue to operate to thwart terrorism and hold accountable any terrorist who attacks civilians and security forces.'
The demolition comes amid a time of rising tension in the West Bank, with an increased Israeli military presence in the areas of Jenin and Tulkarem, among other places.
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