NABLUS: Israeli forces on Thursday demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of killing a soldier in the occupied West Bank, which has been hit by a new outbreak of violence.

This week, at least 18 people have been killed in the territory, in incursions by the Israeli military, or in attacks by Palestinians or Jewish settlers.

So far this year, more than 200 people have died in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

Israeli soldiers entered Nablus, the largest Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, during the night and left at dawn after demolishing Kamal Jouri’s apartment, witnesses said.

The army said it “demolished... the home of Kamal Jouri, the terrorist who carried out a gun attack” in October which “caused the death of soldier Ido Baruch”.

Jouri was arrested in February and is in Israeli custody along with Osama Tawil, who is also accused of taking part in the attack and whose home was demolished on June 15, the Israeli army said.

The army said that during the operation to demolish Jouri’s home, “rioters opened fire on the soldiers, causing damage to a military vehicle”.

Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Palestinians it accuses of deadly attacks on Israelis, arguing that such measures act as a deterrent.

Human rights activists say the policy amounts to collective punishment, as it can render non-combatants, including children, homeless.

Drone strike

On Wednesday, Israeli drone killed three gunmen in the West Bank, in a rare strike that came hours after settlers attacked Palestinian towns, torching cars and buildings in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen a day earlier.

The strike near the flashpoint city of Jenin came amid a surge in violence over recent days in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military (IDF) said a squad of militants was identified in a vehicle after they carried out a shooting attack near the town of Jalamah.

A statement by the Islamic Jihad group said two of the men were Islamic Jihad fighters while the third was from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed wing of the Fatah movement.

Although surveillance drones are commonplace, the strike by an Elbit Hermes drone, which followed a rare use of helicopter gunships in the operation in Jenin, was the first by the Israeli military in the West Bank since 2006, the IDF said.

“This is about removing a threat — we identified a vehicle shooting at the crossing and removed the threat,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a tweet.

Hours earlier, Israeli settlers rampaged through Palestinian towns in the West Bank in retaliation for the killing of four Israelis by gunmen who opened fire on a roadside restaurant near the settlement of Eli.

In Turmus Ayya, a prosperous town near Ramallah, footage showed cars ablaze with thick clouds of black smoke swirling above and people carrying an injured person to an ambulance.

“They tried to enter the courtyard, they set the cars on fire, they started shooting towards the house using live bullets and stones and they broke the balconies,” said resident Noman Shalab.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023