Israel demolishes homes of Palestinian attackers in West Bank





Ramallah (dpa) – Israeli forces demolished the West Bank homes of three Palestinians involved in attacks against police and Israeli settlers, and sealed shut a fourth home, the Israeli army said Thursday.



 
A large force of more than 50 army vehicles raided the village of Deir Abu Meshal, north-west of Ramallah, shortly after midnight, imposed a curfew and proceeded to demolish two homes and seal shut an additional home, according to the village's mayor, Imad Zahran.
The homes belong to the families of Bara Ata, 18, Usama Ata, 19, and Ahmad Ankoush, 18, who were involved in an attack on Israeli police in Jerusalem in June that left one police officer dead. The three were shot dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, soldiers also demolished on Thursday the family home of another attacker in the Ramallah-area village of Silwad, according to Palestinian media reports.
They said the army demolished the residence of Malik Hamed, 22, who was involved in a car ramming attack in April near the settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah, that left one Israeli soldier dead. Hamed was shot and arrested.
Zahran said the families in Deir Abu Meshal had vacated their homes earlier this week after the Israeli High Court upheld on Tuesday an army order to demolish them.
He said the army used bulldozers to demolish two homes and attempted to blow up the third but due to the proximity of other homes decided to seal it shut with cement, a process that took several hours.
With reports of the army entering the villages, calls were made through mosques' loudspeakers on people to come out and block the demolitions.
Village youth clashed with soldiers at some locations, who responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets lightly injuring four people.
According to the Israeli military, the home demolitions are meant to deter future attacks

 


Thursday, August 10th 2017
By Maher Abukhater, dpa
           


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