The Israeli army demolished the family home of Qassam Barghouti in the village of Kobar, near Ramallah, (WAFA Images / Baha Nasr) 

RAMALLAH, Monday, May 11, 2020 (WAFA) – Despite the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and international calls on Israel to stop demolition of Palestinians homes in the occupied territories, Israeli soldiers nevertheless raided early this morning the Ramallah-area village of Kobar and demolished the family home of a Palestinian detainee, according to witnesses.

They told WAFA that a large army force raided the village and proceeded to the area where the home of Qassam Barghouti, who is detained in Israel on charges of taking part in the alleged killing of an Israeli last year, where an army bulldozer demolished the top floor of the two-story building of the Barghouti family and destroyed trees around it.

Residents clashed with the soldiers during the raid and pelted them with stones, who responded by firing rubber bullets and teargas at the youths, hitting one in the face with a teargas canister, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The army informed the Barghouti family on February 11 of its intention to demolish its home as a punishment for its son’s action. Qassam’s mother, Widad Barghouti, a media instructor at Birzeit University, was also detained on September 1 of last year following the arrest of her son. She was recently released.

Family homes of two other Palestinians suspected of taking part in the same operation that left one Israeli settler dead were also demolished in March and April. The homes belonged to the families of the two brothers, Saleh Barghouti, who was shot dead by the army, and Assem Barghouti, who is in prison.

T.R./M.K.