The home of Major Eliraz Peretz, who was killed Friday when his IDF unit pursued a gang of terrorists into the Gaza region, is set to be demolished by May 1 at the latest, thanks to an order by the High Court which gave the state a deadline for carrying out the decision in a suit brought by the leftist Peace Now organization. MK Danon has promised to prevent the decision from being carried out, but so far it stands. Peretz's home is located in the Givat Hayovel neighborhood of Eli, termed an “illegal outpost” by the court. Peretz's home is two doors down from the home of another IDF hero killed in battle; the family of Ro'i Klein, who was killed saving members of his battalion during the Second Lebanon War, is also set to be evicted, thanks to the court's order. Eliraz, 31, was killed Friday when he led troops in pursuit of terrorists who planted explosives along the Gaza border in order to ambush and kill IDF troops. The soldiers also feared that the terrorists would try to infiltrate across the border in order to carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians. An IDF investigation said that the terrorists managed to outrun the troops and were able to shoot at them from close range, with one bullet apparently hitting a hand grenade one of the soldiers was carrying. The grenade exploded, killing Eliraz, along with Staff Sergeant Ilan Sviatkovsky, 21, from Rishon Letzion. Two of the terrorists were killed, as well. On Friday, Shlomit, the widow of Eliraz, was informed that her husband had been killed in battle by IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronski. Shlomit noticed a commotion at the Klein home and went over to find out what had happened; it was there that she was told of her husband's death, as Rabbi Ronski preferred to first prepare the neighborhood for the bad news. Miriam Peretz, the mother of Eliraz, said that her son was “the salt of the earth, a child who loved and embraced others, a child who raised his own family here in Israel. Four of my sons were Golani soldiers. I don't know much about the Golani units, but I do know that G-d loves them, that He loves the Golani soldiers of the Peretz family, and that He loves Eliraz, who was a hero. “He didn't go to battle to get himself killed, but to ensure that I and the Jewish nation could continue to live here,” she said. Eliraz, who was the regiment's deputy commander, is the second member of the Peretz family to be killed in battle. On November 25, 1998, Peretz's brother, Uriel, was killed when his Golani unit was attempting to neutralize several explosive devices planted by Hizbullah terrorists. Eliran left behind a wife and four children, including a two month old infant.
