In recent days, during the night between Thursday and Friday, Israeli forces demolished the home of Mohammed Bassam Taha, one of the two attackers who carried out the deadly shooting at Ramot Junction in Jerusalem last month, in which six Israeli civilians were killed. The blast took place in the town of Katana, about 12 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem. The house of the second attacker, Muthna Amro from the village of Al-Qubeiba, was demolished about two weeks earlier.
IDF Forces on the Ground
According to an IDF spokesperson, combat engineers from the Yahalom unit, alongside Border Police officers from the Rama unit and under the command of the Binyamin Brigade, operated in Katana to demolish the home of terrorist Mohammed Taha, who was killed immediately after carrying out the attack at Ramot Junction in Jerusalem. Palestinian reports said large military forces arrived at night, cordoned off the area, evacuated nearby residents and journalists, and later planted explosives in the walls of the apartment before blowing it up.
During the operation, Israeli forces also used riot control measures, including tear gas, to disperse young Palestinians who tried to obstruct the demolition.
لحظة تفجير قوات الاحتلال منزل الشهيد محمد بسام طه، في بلدة قطنة شمال القدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/zTZclx28gt
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 10, 2025
The Ramot Junction Attack
The Ramot Junction shooting took place on September 8, 2025, when two Palestinian attackers – Muthna Amro from Al-Qubeiba and Mohammed Taha from Katana – crossed into Israel through a breach in the separation barrier near Qalandiya and were transported to Ramot by a driver who regularly ferried illegal workers. Upon arrival, they opened fire indiscriminately at a crowded bus stop just as bus line 62 pulled in. Six Israeli civilians were murdered in the shooting:
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Rabbi Mordechai Steintzig, 79, known as “Dr. Mark,” a resident of Ramot Bet in Jerusalem and founder of the bakery “Dr. Mark’s Pastry.”
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Sarah Mendelson, 60, of Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem, worked as municipal liaison at the Bnei Akiva movement’s treasury office.
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Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Fash, 57, of Tel Zion, taught at Kol Torah Yeshiva and was known for his charitable deeds.
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Yaakov Pinto, 25, an immigrant from Spain who lived in Jerusalem and studied at Derech Emunah Yeshiva in Lod, also worked as a youth counselor.
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Israel Metzner, 28, from Bnei Brak, a student at the Misherim kollel in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem.
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Rabbi Yosef David, 43, a resident of Ramot, Jerusalem, murdered on his way to his kollel studies.
Both attackers were killed by a Haredi soldier from the Hashmonaim Brigade and an armed civilian.
Breaches in the Separation Barrier
The breach in the barrier, near Qalandiya camp and the Atarot industrial zone on the outskirts of Jerusalem, is part of a larger separation fence system that suffers from chronic vulnerabilities. A 2021 State Comptroller’s report noted that only about 50% of the barrier was effective at preventing infiltration, with an estimated 1.4 million illegal crossings annually. Following the Ramot Junction attack, security forces reinforced their presence in the area, but the breach has remained partially open, enabling continued daily infiltrations. In the weeks since the attack, Border Police officers stationed around Jerusalem killed two more Palestinians attempting to cross at the same spot.
(Jerusalem attack remembered – terrorist’s house demolished)
