RAMALLAH, July 27, 2018 (WAFA) – Israeli forces early Friday morning sealed off Kobar village, northwest of Ramallah, closing its entrances with earth mounds and razing its streets, said a municipal source.

Large number of Israeli troops, backed by two bulldozers, raided Kobar, the hometown of Mohammad Tareq Yousef Abu Ayyush, 17, who carried out a stabbing attack in the illegal Israeli settlement of Adam.

The Mayor of Kobar, Izzat Badwan, said that Israeli troops stormed and ransacked the home of the Abu Ayyush family and took measurements for it in preparation for imminent demolition.

He added that troops broke into several homes in the village and detained three Palestinians, including two brothers.

Violent clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers on the road leading to the village, during which soldiers fired stun grenades, tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets, causing a number of youths to suffer from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Similar clashes were reported in the neighboring towns of Burham, Abu Shkeidim and Birzeit afterwards.

Abu Ayyush reportedly broke into Adam settlement sometime before 9:00 PM Thursday, where he stabbed to death a 31-year-old settler and injured two others.

Israel resorts to punitively demolish the family homes of Palestinians- as a means of deterrence- accused of being involved in attacks against Israelis, a policy that Israel does not apply to Israeli settlers who were involved in fatal attacks against Palestinians.

The policy was widely condemned by human rights groups as “a collective punishment” and “a war crime and crime against humanity”.

K.F.