Palestinians clash with Israelis in West Bank
July 18, 2016
As many as six Palestinians were wounded in clashes with the Israeli army early Monday when the military moved in to demolish the home of a Palestinian family in the West Bank.
The army bulldozed the family home of Bilal Abu Zeid in the town of Qabatiya for his alleged involvement in a February attack on Israeli police officers that left one dead and one wounded.
Fighting broke out when the military convoy arrived at the house. Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails and fired upon the soldiers with makeshift guns.
The soldiers responded with live fire and rubber bullets. Israel confirms three Palestinians were hit, but Palestinian officials say six Palestinians were wounded - two by live ammunition and four by rubber bullets.
Israel regularly destroys the homes of Palestinians connected to attacks, saying it acts as a deterrent.
Rights groups and Palestinians condemned the bulldozing, calling it an act of collective punishment - Abu Zeid is imprisoned in Israel.
He is accused of assisting three Palestinian attackers in the February 3 incident that killed one police officer and badly wounded another outside the Old City's Damascus Gate.
But Israel has not said what his connection was to the attack, which involved three Palestinians who were armed with rifles, knives and explosives, Israeli officials said at the time of the attack.
Shot in the head
A policewoman died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the three assailants were killed at the scene. Their family homes were demolished two months later.
Since October, about 10 Palestinians from Qabatiya have been killed carrying out attacks against Israelis. During that same time period violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories has killed more than 250 people, including at least 215 Palestinians, 34 Israelis and two Americans.
The latest attack occurred Monday when a Palestinian man stabbed two Israeli soldiers before being shot and arrested.
The attack occurred south of Bethlehem, in the southern part of the West Bank, according to an Israeli army statement.
"An assailant armed with a knife stabbed two IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers during routine activity near Al-Arroub," the statement said, adding, "Forces shot and detained the assailant."
The two soldiers' wounds were not life threatening, according to an army spokesman.
The wounded man was identified as Mustafa Baradeah from the Al-Arroub refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
His brother Ibrahim was killed in April after carrying out an attack with an axe that left a soldier lightly wounded, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.
bik/kl (AFP, AP)