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Razing Terrorists' Houses is an Effective Deterrent
(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - IDF troops have demolished 25 houses belonging to families of terrorists in the Gaza Strip over the past three months. Senior army sources claim the demolition of homes has significant deterrent effect and led to averting close to 20 terrorist attacks when the terrorists' relatives pressured them to abort their plans for fear their homes would be demolished. "For the first time, the terrorists' families are paying a price for their sons' activity, while earlier they won praise from the Palestinian Authority and residents, in addition to financial support," a senior officer said. Until recently the suicide bombers thought their attack assured their families' economic future, say IDF sources. Now that Israel has changed the equation, some families react by restraining or even locking up their sons to prevent them from carrying out a terrorist attack. The fear of Israeli reaction is also reflected in pamphlets spread by Palestinian activists in Rafah and Khan Yunis calling on gunmen not to shoot at IDF soldiers from inhabited areas. A preliminary military probe of the IDF operation in the Al-Bureij camp in Gaza, in which 10 Palestinians were killed last Friday, indicates no flaws in the troops' performance. The IDF says eight of those killed were involved in fighting the soldiers. A senior officer said, "the large number of casualties also has a deterrent value. There is no chance of getting the Palestinians to stop the struggle, unless they pay a heavy personal price. The blood cannot flow only in the streets of Tel Aviv."