Israeli forces predawn Friday took the measurements of a Palestinian family house in Ni’lin town, west of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, in preparation of punitive demolition, according to local sources. A sizable army force barged its way into the town and stormed the family house of Mutaz Khawaja, 23, in the central West Bank town, and took measurements of it in anticipation of imminent punitive demolition. The raid triggered violent confrontations which saw the gun-toting soldiers opening fire towards local youths attempting to block their entry as well as towards civilian houses, but without any injury. Khawaja carried out a shooting attack that resulted injuring three Israelis, including one critically injured and another in severe condition, in central Tel Aviv before being killed by Israeli police on Thursday night. The Tel Aviv attack followed an Israeli raid in the Jenin area that left three Palestinians dead earlier in the day. Meanwhile, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy died from his injuries after he was shot in the stomach with an expanding bullet during an Israeli raid on Tuesday. The attack appears to represent a spillover into Israel of the escalating violence in the West Bank, where Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in a raid early Thursday morning. A fourth Palestinian, a child, died on Thursday from injuries sustained during an Israeli military raid two days earlier. The Israeli army year-long escalation of its repression and deadly incursions across the West Bank have resulted in a sharp uptick in Palestinian fatalities, particularly during reprisal raids in major population centers, generating further rage and retaliation against the occupation, with the northern West Bank bearing the brunt of the violence. Israel resorts to punitively demolish the family homes of Palestinians as a mean 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’.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA – English