Palestinian media reports structures demolished in Beit Kahil, near Hebron, month after suspects indicted on terror charges in August murder of student and off-duty soldier

Israeli troops measure the homes of two Palestinians suspected of killing Dvir Sorek, ahead of their planned demolition in the village of Beit Kahil in the southern West Bank on August 12, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli troops measure the homes of two Palestinians suspected of killing Dvir Sorek, ahead of their planned demolition in the village of Beit Kahil in the southern West Bank on August 12, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)

 

Israeli forces raided a southern West Bank town early Thursday and began razing the homes of Palestinian men accused of murdering an off duty Israeli soldier in an August attack, according to unconfirmed reports.

The Palestinian Quds News website reported that Israeli soldiers demolished at least two homes in Beit Kahil, near Hebron.

Dvir Sorek, 18, a yeshiva student and off-duty IDF soldier who was found stabbed to death outside a West Bank settlement on August 8, 2019 (Courtesy)
Dvir Sorek, 18, a yeshiva student and off-duty IDF soldier who was found stabbed to death outside a West Bank settlement on August 8, 2019 (Courtesy)

Reports differed on how many homes were razed.

Cousins Nasir Asafra, 24, and Qassem Asafra, 30, were arrested in August and later charged in the stabbing death of Dvir Sorek, 18, as he made his way to the West Bank religious seminary where he studied as part of a program combining military service with Jewish study.

Three others were also indicted on terror charges in connection with the murder.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military, which generally only comments on operational matters after they have concluded.

Pictures and video published in Palestinian media showed a digger being used to raze a structure in the town, and armed troops guarding heavy equipment.

Palestinians reported clashes between troops and locals who protested the action.

Israel says the practice of demolishing terrorists’ homes is an effective means of discouraging future attacks, though it has been criticized by human rights groups as a form of collective punishment and by some analysts as an ineffective deterrent measure.

According to an indictment filed in October, Nasir Asafra and Qassem Asafra hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a settler. When they spotted Sorek, who was getting off a bus near Migdal Oz in the Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem, they approached him in a car and stabbed him to death.

Qassem is believed to have driven the vehicle while Nasir stabbed Sorek to death.

IDF troops conduct search operations in the Bethlehem area after the body of a student, Dvir Sorek, later found near the settlement of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion, on August 8, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops conduct search operations in the Bethlehem area after the body of a student, Dvir Sorek, later found near the settlement of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion, on August 8, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)

 

One of the suspects in the murder of Dvir Sorek after being arrested by the Border Police and IDF in the West Bank on August 10, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)
One of the suspects in the murder of Dvir Sorek after being arrested by the Border Police and IDF in the West Bank on August 10, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)

Sorek’s body was found the next morning. The two were captured in Beit Kahil after a two-day manhunt.

Besides the two cousins, three others were indicted for helping plan and prepare for the attack.

Qassem’s wife Inas was also charged with assisting the group beforehand and after the deadly stabbing attack. The group was accused of carrying out the attack on behalf of the Hamas terror group.

The IDF had informed the families of four of the cell members that it planned to demolish their homes.

As reported by The Times of Israel