AFP, NABLUS: Israeli troops razed the West Bank homes of four Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis on Saturday, pressing a controversial policy of punitive demolitions after weeks of deadly unrest.
The demolitions came hours after two Israelis were shot dead in an apparent ambush near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Friday in the most serious attack on Israelis in nearly a month.
In Nablus in the northern West Bank, troops destroyed the homes of three Palestinians accused of killing an Israeli settler couple on October 1 at the start of the latest flare-up of violence, the army said.
Before dawn, the army destroyed the family homes of Kerem Razek, Samir Kusa and Yahya Haj Hamed, all three of whom are awaiting trial for the murder of Eitam and Na’ama Henkin in their car in front of their young children.
In Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, the army razed the home of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli on a West Bank road in June.
The home of Mouad Hamed, accused of killing Malachi Rosenfeld, was destroyed in a controlled explosion that caused damage to at least two neighbouring houses, an AFP photographer reported.
The demolitions in Nablus prompted clashes between protesters and the Israeli army in which nine Palestinians were wounded, two of them by live ammunition, Palestinian medical sources said.
The army operation came after the High Court ruled in favour of the demolitions on Thursday.
The policy is controversial even in Israel. The government argues it acts as a deterrent but critics say the main victims are relatives forced to pay for another person’s actions.
Last month, the government ordered an intensification of the policy in response to a wave of stabbing and shooting attacks and other deadly unrest.