Israel demolishes home of slain Palestinian involved in deadly West Bank clash / Photo: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH - AFP
Israel demolishes home of slain Palestinian involved in deadly West Bank clash
Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the home of a Palestinian who died in July in the most lethal clash in months in the occupied West Bank, residents and the army told AFP.
The clash broke out on July 24 when a group of Israeli settlers approached the town of Tell, leaving dead one settler, one soldier and four Palestinians including Farouq Ramadan, whose home was demolished.
"At around 8:15 am (0515 GMT), the Israeli army blew up the apartment where the martyr Farouq Ramadan lived with his wife and five daughters," Tell Mayor Walid Zaidan told AFP.
Zaidan said that about 30 Israeli military vehicles and engineering teams entered the village Monday evening, evacuating residents of 30 houses surrounding Ramadan's home before the demolition.
AFP journalists saw army engineers set up explosives and detonate the second-floor apartment where Ramadan had lived, after troops amassed from Monday evening.
The army in a statement said troops "demolished the house where the terrorist who carried out the shooting" had lived.
"We will continue to take proactive and offensive action to thwart terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria and to bring to justice terrorists who sought to harm the citizens of the State of Israel," it said, using a biblical name for the West Bank.
Israeli army radio said the two-week timeline to demolish the house was an "unprecedented record time".
Israel routinely demolishes family homes of Palestinians it accuses of being involved in attacks, seeing the policy as a deterrent, but critics say it amounts to collective punishment that leaves innocent family members homeless. Palestinians say the villagers in Tell came under attack from settlers.
On July 24, footage showed Ramadan seizing an Israeli's weapon during a clash with settlers, leading an emergency response team from a nearby settlement to rush to the scene with ensuing gunfire.
A military probe last week said that the soldier was killed by Palestinian fire, but could not conclusively determine whether the settler was killed by Palestinian or friendly fire.
Ramadan was killed in the exchange of gunfire, but it was unclear who by.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, but in recent years the number of settlements in the Palestinian territory -- which are illegal under international law -- has soared.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, home to around three million Palestinians.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war.
Israeli figures over the same period show that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in the West Bank in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.
R.al-Mansour--al-Hayat
