Israeli army blows up Palestinian home in southern West Bank

ANKARA

The Israeli army early on Thursday blew up the home of a Palestinian in the southern occupied West Bank who was killed by the Israeli forces in an alleged stabbing attack a few months ago.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the Israeli forces raided the town of Dura in the southern Hebron city, and forced the family of Momen Masalema to leave their home in preparation to destroy it.

Later, the Israeli army blew up the home in a retaliatory measure against one member of the family accused by Israel of carrying out a stabbing attack in April that left an Israeli settler killed.

On June 5, the Israeli authorities informed the family of its decision to demolish the home.

According to the Times of Israel news website, Masalema was killed by Israeli forces after carrying out an attack in the town of Gan Yavne, central Israel, that left an Israeli killed and two others seriously injured.

The Israeli authorities follow a policy of destroying the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers, a policy widely seen as a form of internationally prohibited collective punishment, as it causes displacement to the entire family.

Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.

At least 620 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.