NABLUS: Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the home of a Palestinian who died in July in the most lethal clash in months in the occupied West Bank, residents and the army said. The clash broke out on July 24 when a group of Israeli settlers approached the town of Tell, leaving dead one settler, one soldier and four Palestinians including Farouq Ramadan, whose home was demolished.
"At around 8:15 am (05:15 GMT), the Israeli army blew up the apartment where the martyr Farouq Ramadan lived with his wife and five daughters," Tell Mayor Walid Zaidan said. Zaidan said that about 30 Israeli military vehicles and engineering teams entered the village on Monday evening, evacuating residents of 30 houses surrounding Ramadan's home before the demolition.
Journalists saw army engineers set up explosives and detonate the second-floor apartment where Ramadan had lived, after troops amassed from Monday evening. The army in a statement said troops "demolished the house where the man who carried out the shooting" had lived. "We will continue to take proactive and offensive action to thwart fighters throughout Judea and Samaria and to bring to justice Palestinians who sought to harm the citizens of the State of Israel," it said, using a biblical name for the West Bank.
Israeli army radio said the two-week timeline to demolish the house was an "unprecedented record time". Israel routinely demolishes family homes of Palestinians it accuses of being involved in attacks, seeing the policy as a deterrent, but critics say it amounts to collective punishment that leaves innocent family members homeless. Palestinians say the villagers in Tell came under attack from settlers.
On July 24, footage showed Ramadan seizing an Israeli's weapon during a clash with settlers, leading an emergency response team from a nearby settlement to rush to the scene with ensuing gunfire. A military probe last week said that the soldier was killed by Palestinian fire, but could not conclusively determine whether the settler was killed by Palestinian or friendly fire. Ramadan was killed in the exchange of gunfire, but it was unclear who by.
The Israeli army said on Monday it was banning from most of the West Bank a settler accused of physically abusing a Palestinian, despite an intervention his behalf by the defence minister. West Bank commander Major General Avi Bluth published an order banning Tal Yinon Dardik from all of the occupied territory with the exception of his settlement where he will be required to report to police twice daily. The army put Dardik in administrative detention, which it can do without charges or trials, but which is almost only used for Palestinian detainees. The case took on a political dimension when Israel Katz, defence minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, visited Dardik and criticised his detention.
Settlers have been attacking Palestinians on a nearly daily basis in the West Bank since the massive October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, which is based in the separate Gaza Strip, subsequently devastated by an Israeli retaliatory offensive. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, but in recent years the number of settlements in the Palestinian territory — which are illegal under international law — has soared. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, home to around three million Palestinians. — AFP
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