Israeli troops demolish home of Palestinian assailant

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops on Saturday demolished the home of a Palestinian man who killed a Jewish seminary student in a shooting ambush in the occupied West Bank five months ago, the military said. The demolition took place around dawn in the village of Silat al-khartiyeh, with troops swinging sledgehammers to break walls and setting off explosives. Residents threw stones and firebombs at soldiers who fired live rounds, the army said. Palestinian medics said three Palestinians were injured by live fire and others by tear gas inhalation.

Such demolitions have been denounced by rights groups as collective punishment, and the military suspended the practice for several years, starting in 2005, after concluding it did not serve as an effective deterrent. The army resumed demolitions several years ago and now carries them out routinely in response to attacks in which Palestinians kill Israelis.

In the most recent attack, two Palestinians from the West Bank killed three Israelis and wounded four in a mass stabbing in the ultra-orthodox Jewish town of Elad in central Israel on Thursday. As of Saturday, the suspected assailants, two young men from the town of Jenin, remained at large. Officials familiar with the investigation said the attackers arrived in Elad in a vehicle driven by one of the victims and then killed him. At least one attacker also used an axe, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details with the media. A gag order has been placed on much of the investigation.