Israel To Raze Home Of Slain Palestinian Shooting Suspect

Israeli authorities on Monday issued demolition orders for the home of the family of a Palestinian man killed late October in an Israeli raid on his home on suspicions that he was responsible for injuring a Jewish rabbi in a drive-by shooting in West Jerusalem.



The homeowner, Ibrahim Hegazi, the father of Moataz Hegazi, told The Anadolu Agency that he had received demolition orders for the family home in East Jerusalem's Al-Tur neighborhood on the pretext that the structure was built without a permit.



"My house was built before 1967" when Israel occupied Jerusalem, Ibrahim told AA. "The three-bedroom house was built on an area of 170 square meters."



The younger Hegazi, who had been accused by Israel of shooting extremist rabbi Yehuda Glick in late October, was killed by Israeli forces during a raid on his East Jerusalem home hours later.



Glick is notorious for leading groups of extremist Jews into East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, drawing the ire of Palestinian Muslims.



Following the shooting of Glick, the Israeli authorities briefly closed Al-Aqsa, triggering angry protests by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.



Since then, several Israelis have been killed and injured in a spate of separate attacks by Palestinians – both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.



For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.



Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.



In September 2000, a visit to the site by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against Israel's decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.



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