Israeli forces raid hometown of Elad suspects amid clashes

By Mohammad Ghefari

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Israeli army forces on Sunday raided the homes of two Palestinians accused by Tel Aviv of carrying out a deadly axe attack, in which three Israelis were killed.

Dozens of Israeli armored vehicles stormed the village of Rumana in the West Bank city of Jenin with soldiers raiding the houses of As’sad al-Rifai and Emad Subhi Abu Shqeir, local residents said.

Israeli forces cordoned off the area with snipers deployed on roofs of several buildings in the town, they added.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, Israeli forces prepare to demolish the homes of the two Palestinian suspends as a punitive measure.

Clashes erupted between angry Palestinian residents and Israeli forces during which Israeli soldiers fired teargas canisters to disperse protesters, eyewitnesses said.

Al-Rifai, 19, and Abu Shqeir, 20, were arrested by Israeli forces earlier Sunday in a forested area close to the city of Elad near Tel Aviv after a 4-day manhunt.

There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday’s attack, which came amid rising tensions across the Palestinian territories since last month as a result of repeated Israeli arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and daily settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar