Israeli forces raze Palestinian house in southern West Bank

Israeli military forces have demolished the family house of a slain young Palestinian man over his alleged role in a deadly stabbing attack against an Israeli girl in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

Local sources, speaking anonymously, said an Israeli bulldozer escorted by more than 30 military vehicles rolled into the town of Bani Na’im, located eight kilometers east of al-Khalil (Hebron), early on Monday and tore down the house of 17-year-old Mohammed Nasser Tarayra.

The sources added that Israeli soldiers forced out the residents before placing explosives in the foundation of Tarayra’s house and remotely detonating it. The force of the explosion damaged a number of other Palestinian houses in the area.

Tarayra was shot and killed on June 30 after allegedly “infiltrating” the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of al-Khalil, and stabbing a 13-year-old girl to death. The girl, identified as Hallel Yafa Ariel, later died of her wounds in hospital.

Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Israel’s punitive measures against Palestinian communities in the wake of alleged attacks, arguing that they constitute “collective punishment.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that a total of 726 Palestinian structures had been razed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds since January, and the demolitions have affected 1,020 Palestinians.

The structures included houses, shelters for livestock, and installations such as solar panels.

The world body said that there were 533 demolitions and 688 displaced Palestinians in the entire 2015, meaning that demolitions so far this year have increased more than 36 percent compared to last year.

The occupied territories have witnessed a fresh bout of tensions ever since Israeli forces restricted the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

More than 220 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of last October. The violence has also killed at least 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

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