Israeli army to demolish homes of two Palestinians allegedly behind Ariel settlement attack

The Israeli military has decided to demolish the homes of two young Palestinians, who allegedly killed an Israeli guard in the northern part of the occupied West Bank last week.

In a written statement on Saturday, the Israeli army announced that it had informed the families of the two suspects—identified as Youssef Assi and Yahya Mari -- of its intention to demolish their homes, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

On April 29, unknown gunmen shot and killed an Israeli security guard at the entrance to the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel in north-central West Bank.

The Israeli army launched a far-and-wide manhunt for the assailants. Hours later, Israeli forces claimed they had arrested two Palestinians suspected of carrying out the deadly attack. The pair were arrested in the Palestinian village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Ariel, the Israeli army said after a day-long hunt.

Israeli forces arrest suspects in killing of settlement guard in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have arrested suspected killers of an Israeli settlement guard in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli regime began escalating its recurrently-deadly attacks against Palestinians in the run-up to the fasting month of Ramadan and sustained the violence throughout the holy month, stirring up anti-Tel Aviv sentiments throughout the occupied territories.

Over the past two months, at least 25 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have been killed in either shooting attacks or clashes.

The latest development comes a day after Israeli forces demolished the family home of a Palestinian detainee accused of killing a settler last December, sparking violent clashes with Palestinians.

Israeli forces destroy home of Palestinian detainee, injure three in ensuing clashes

Israeli forces demolish the family home of a Palestinian detainee accused of killing an Israeli settler last December.

Local sources said an Israeli army unit raided the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, on Saturday morning and destroyed the family home of Palestinian prisoner Omar Jaradat, Palestine’s official Wafa news agency reported.

They said the Israeli army demolished the walls of the house, making it impossible to live in.

Three Palestinians were also injured by live bullets during the clashes that erupted after the Israeli raid.

The Tel Aviv regime regularly destroys the homes of Palestinians it blames for attacks on Israeli settlers, in an act of collective punishment condemned by human rights activists.

Thousands of Palestinians, in spite of the fact that they had done nothing wrong and were not suspected of any wrongdoing, have been displaced due to the regime’s cruel policy since 1967.

Back in January, the occupation authorities informed four Palestinian families of their decision to demolish their houses in Silat al-Harithiya for the December attack. They went on to demolish the homes one by one.

Omar Jaradat’s home is the fourth family home the regime has demolished as a collective punitive measure for the killing of the Israeli settler.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have arrested two young Palestinian men suspected of killing three people and injuring several others in an armed operation in the city of Elad in the central part of the occupied territories on Thursday.

Israel suffered 'very heavy price' in attack near Tel Aviv, Israeli minister admits

Israel’s public security minister Omer Bar-Lev says the regime suffered a very heavy price in the wake of an operation in the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Elad.

The attack took place amid rising tensions in the occupied territories ahead of Nakba (Catastrophe) Day in mid-May.

The Nakba Day refers to the occasion when the Israeli entity proclaimed existence in the occupied Palestinian territories in mid-May 1948 and drove hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homeland. Israelis celebrated the occasion on May 4-5 this year.

Nakba Day is set as May 15 every year, but Israelis celebrate what they call their "Independence Day" in accordance with the Hebrew calendar. 

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