UPDATE – Israeli army razes home of alleged Palestinian shooter

UPDATES WITH PALESTINIAN GOV’T REACTION

By Qais Abu Samra

TULKARM, West Bank (AA) – Israeli forces on Monday demolished the home of a Palestinian youth accused of killing two settlers in an attack in the West Bank in October.

Israeli bulldozers destroyed the house of Ashraf Naalwa in the town of Shweika in the city Tulkarm early Monday, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter in the area.

Israeli forces cordoned off the area and prevented Palestinian residents from approaching the location, the reporter said.

“The demolition is part of collective punishment and revenge by the Israeli occupation against our people,” Youssef al-Mahmoud, a spokesman for the Ramallah-based Palestinian government, said in a statement.

He held the Israeli government “responsible for escalating tension in the region and world”.

The Palestinian spokesman went on to call on the international community to enforce UN resolutions regarding ending the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

The home demolition has triggered clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces, during which at least six people were hurt.

There was no comment yet from Israeli authorities on the demolition.

Israeli authorities accuse Naalwa of killing two settlers in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank early October.

Naalwa was killed by Israeli forces during a raid to arrest him in the West Bank city of Nablus last week.

Israeli forces have been holding Naalwa's parents and sister since October.

The Israeli army uses the emergency law of the British Mandate in 1945 to demolish Palestinian homes, whose owners allegedly carried out attacks against Israelis.

Israel’s top court usually rejects Palestinians' appeals against the demolition of their homes.