Israeli forces level home of Palestinian shooting suspect’s family in West Bank
The Israeli military has demolished the home of a Palestinian-American family in the occupied West Bank.
Troops levelled the two-storey home of Muntasser Shalaby in the village of Turmus Ayya with controlled explosions on Thursday.
Mr Shalaby is accused of carrying out a drive-by shooting in the West Bank on May 2 that killed student Yehuda Guetta and wounded two other people.
Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the demolition order last month.
An Israeli court recently rejected a petition by Mr Shalaby’s estranged wife, Sanaa Shalaby, who said she knew nothing about the attack.
Israel says demolishing family homes is one of the few ways to deter attackers, who expect to be arrested or killed and who are often glorified by Palestinian factions.
The US State Department has criticised such demolitions, and an Israeli military review in the 2000s questioned their effectiveness.
An official representative at the US embassy said: “We are following reports that the home was demolished. We believe it is critical for all parties to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.
“This certainly includes the punitive demolition of Palestinian homes.
“The home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual.”
West Bank villages often hold Friday protests against land confiscation, house demolitions and Israeli settlements.
The demonstrations frequently lead to confrontations with the Israeli military.
About 475,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which is home to 2.8 million Palestinians.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished the Bedouin community of Khirbet Humsu in the West Bank, the latest chapter in the military’s attempts to uproot the Palestinian village of makeshift homes.
At least 65 people, including 35 children, were displaced, said Christopher Holt of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a group of international aid agencies supported by the EU that is assisting residents.
“The Israeli military entered the community Humsu-Al Baqai’a in the northern West Bank at around 9am,” Mr Holt said.
“They tried to pressure the community to leave. They refused. They then wiped out the entire community, demolished the entire community for the sixth time since November last year, leaving the community without anything, without any shelter for themselves or their livestock.”
The villagers earn their livelihoods tending 4,000 sheep.
The EU helped them rebuild after previous demolitions.
Israel’s government, now run by a coalition headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, says the village was built illegally on a military firing range.
Last month, the UN accused Israel of breaching international law by expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, urging the country’s new government to halt the process.