The Maghames home in Birzeit town levelled to the ground by Israeli soldiers as a punitive measure.

RAMALLAH, Thursday, March 5, 2020 (WAFA) – Israeli forces early today demolished the family homes of two alleged Palestinian attackers in Ramallah and nearby Birzeit town, amidst intense clashes with the youths, WAFA correspondent said.

She said that a large Israeli army force raided the town of Birzeit in the after midnight hours and surrounded the family home of Yazan Maghames before the military bulldozers proceeded to demolish it and level it to the ground.

Youths clashed with the Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas canisters towards them and at homes causing large number of suffocation cases.

At the same time, soldiers raided the Ramallah neighborhood of al-Tireh and demolished using hand tools the family residence Walid Hanatsheh since it is located in an apartment building.

Witnesses said that the soldiers surrounded the 6-floor building, inhabited by 13 families before proceeding to demolish the inner and outer walls of the Hanatsheh apartment.

Residents of the building said the soldiers forced them to stay indoors as children, woken up by the sound to the soldiers and the use of heavy tools to demolish the Hanatsheh apartment, were frightened. Serious damage was caused to the entrance to the building and some apartments, they said.

Youth pelted the soldiers with stones as they were leaving al-Tireh.

Hanatsheh and Maghames, are currently in Israeli custody for their alleged involvement along with Samer Arbeed in the killing of an Israeli settler near the illegal colonial settlement of Dolev, located near the Palestinian village of Ras Karkar, in August 2019.

In January, the Israeli army informed the families of the intention to demolish their houses.

Israel resorts to collective punishment against families and neighborhoods of alleged Palestinian attackers. This policy does not apply to Israelis who were involved in fatal attacks against Palestinians.

The policy was widely condemned by human rights groups as war crime and crime against humanity.

What was left of the Hanatsheh apartment in Ramallah after the Israeli army has destroyed it. (WAFA Images / Tamer Bana)  

K.T./M.K.