Israeli soldiers are seen in a building after they blew it up in the West Bank city of Hebron, Feb. 16, 2023. Israel's military announced Thursday that it had demolished the home of a Palestinian perpetrator of a deadly shooting attack in the occupied West Bank in 2022. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military announced Thursday that it had demolished the home of a Palestinian perpetrator of a deadly shooting attack in the occupied West Bank in 2022.
Footage released by the army showed blasts demolishing the upper floor of a five-story building in the city of Hebron at dawn, causing damage to other stories and streetlight poles. Grey smoke emerged from the apartment.
The deadly shooting took place in October last year when Muhammed Kamel al-Jabari opened fire near a checkpoint located between Kiryat Arba and Hebron, where two of the most hardline Jewish settlements are located. He killed Ronen Hanania, a 50-year-old resident of Kiryat Arba, and injured several civilians before a security guard shot him dead.
Al-Jabari's home was demolished after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal by his wife, who had been living in the apartment with her three children.
The demolition comes amid a surge of violence in the West Bank, a land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli forces killed at least 46 Palestinians there since the beginning of 2023, mainly during daily raids allegedly aimed at arresting suspects in a string of deadly Palestinian attacks. Official figures from Israel showed 11 Israelis have been killed in those attacks since the beginning of 2023.
Israel frequently demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers, even if they were killed during the attack. The Israeli government claims that this measure aims to deter potential attackers, but the Palestinians and human rights groups argue that it constitutes collective punishment and only fuels more anger and unrest among Palestinians. ■
Smoke billows from a building as Israeli forces blew it up in the West Bank city of Hebron, Feb. 16, 2023. Israel's military announced Thursday that it had demolished the home of a Palestinian perpetrator of a deadly shooting attack in the occupied West Bank in 2022. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
