Before dawn, Israeli forces carried out a demolition that sent shockwaves far beyond the Hebron area. The house of the attacker responsible for killing 12-year-old Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simcha from Jerusalem was blown up, a powerful reminder of the city’s continuing grief
Israeli forces demolished at dawn on Tuesday the home of the terrorist who belonged to the cell that carried out the shooting attack at the al-Khader junction about eight months ago. In that attack, 12-year-old Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simcha from Jerusalem was killed, and three other civilians were wounded
The demolition near Hebron – powerful footage
According to an IDF statement, forces from the Judea Brigade together with the elite Yahalom engineering unit operated overnight in the town of Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, to demolish the home of Thaabat Muhammad Masalmeh. Palestinian sources said the operation lasted several hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Residents of the building and nearby houses were evacuated, explosives were planted in the walls, and at dawn the building was blown up
Palestinian reports claimed that two people were injured in the blast. During the operation, Israeli forces also used crowd-control measures, including tear gas, to disperse gatherings, which led to additional cases of gas inhalation
In a separate statement, the IDF reported that forces from the Binyamin Brigade mapped the homes of two terrorists, Muhammad Taha and Muthanna Amro, who carried out Monday’s attack at the Ramot junction in Jerusalem, killing six people
قوات الاحتلال تفجر منزل الأسير ثابت مسالمة في بلدة بيت عوا جنوب غرب الخليل. pic.twitter.com/fwJP96lJSG
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 9, 2025
Remembering the al-Khader shooting and its road to Jerusalem
The attack in which Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simcha from Jerusalem was killed took place on December 11, 2024. A “Kavim” bus, line 291, was traveling from Beitar Illit to Jerusalem when, near the Tunnel Road on Route 60, close to the al-Khader junction, automatic gunfire struck the vehicle. The bus was hit by 23 bullets. Among the passengers was Yehoshua and his family, returning to Jerusalem from a family event. The boy was critically wounded and rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, where doctors fought for his life for three days before pronouncing him dead. He was buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery
(Video: 15-year-old in Jerusalem – jungle on the road)
Tributes and commemoration in Jerusalem
Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simcha was a student at the “Klal Hasidim” yeshiva in Beitar Illit. His father, Rabbi Zusha Simcha, head of a yeshiva, eulogized his son: “It is not the order of the world for a father and mother to stand at the funeral of their child. You were an example to everyone, even to your father. I always felt I had to be better, because I had such a special child and I needed to match myself to be a father to such a son
His older brother added: “My dear brother, you were the best brother. We went through so much together. My heart hurts deeply
Beitar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein also paid tribute: “Yehoshua was gentle and pure, innocent and God-fearing, a symbol to his family and to all around him… The entire people of Israel mourn you. A great loss for all of us.” Rabbis and yeshiva heads from across the Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox world remembered his devotion to Torah study and his piety
In July this year, a moving ceremony was held at his yeshiva to begin writing a Torah scroll in his memory. The project was initiated by another young man who had also been on the bus that night and survived when a bullet grazed his forehead
