Israel to raze home of Palestinian accused of stabbing

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to destroy the house of a Palestinian teen who was arrested for allegedly trying to stab to death a female Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank.

According to the relatives of the teenager, the arrest was made in the middle of the night in the Palestinian village of Beit Amra near the illegal settlement of Otniel.

“Dozens of soldiers came at 2:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) (Monday) to the family home, searching it extensively and arresting him," Khader Adeesh, the teen's uncle, said, adding, "No one else was arrested."

“He was not involved. He has no relationship with this attack. He is a young boy and couldn't do that,” Adeesh argued. 

The alleged attack is reported to have occurred on Sunday in the Otniel settlement.

"We are going to destroy the terrorist's house," Netanyahu said as he visited the illegal settlement in the West Bank, according to his office.

The Tel Aviv regime regularly demolishes the houses of Palestinians whom it accuses of attacking Israelis, in a move condemned by rights groups.

The hawkish Israeli prime minister once again accused Palestinian officials of leading an “incitement campaign” against Israelis. 

Some analysts believe the recent surge in violence in the occupied Palestinian territories stems from anger at the lack of progress in talks between Israelis and Palestinians as well as Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

The last round of the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. Tel Aviv’s illegal settlement activities and its refusal to release senior Palestinian prisoners were among the major reasons behind the failure of the talks.

Netanyahu formally suspended the so-called peace talks with the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority on April 24, 2014, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forged a unity pact with the Hamas resistance movement, which is based in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Israel responded to the unity pact by announcing tenders for the building of 4,800 illegal settler units on the occupied territories.

Tensions have been running high in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem). Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.

More than 160 Palestinians, including children and women, have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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