Israeli army storms W. Bank town, demolishes home

By Qais Abu Samra

JENIN, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday demolished a Palestinian home near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The demolished home had belonged to a Palestinian family who allegedly carried out an attack in October in which one Israeli settler was killed.

According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli army forced members of Muhammad Abu al-Rub’s family -- who had lived in the town of Qabatiya on Jenin’s outskirts -- to evacuate their home before it was razed by an armored bulldozer.

The Israeli army demolishes the homes of Palestinians who have allegedly carried out attacks, based on an emergency law issued in 1945 during Palestine’s British Mandate period.

Witnesses added that violent confrontations had taken place between local residents and the Israeli army, during which the latter had used live ammunition and teargas.

Field medics told Anadolu Agency that a Palestinian civilian had been wounded by a rubber bullet in the back and that dozens of others had suffered temporary asphyxia after inhaling excessive teargas, many of whom were transferred to hospitals.

The Israeli authorities accuse Abu al-Rub, who has been detained without trial, of killing an Israeli settler in the town of Kafr Qasim in central Israel in early October.