Israeli soldiers raid West Bank refugee camp, destroy home; 2 Palestinians die in clashes

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raided the Qalandia refugee camp in the West Bank early Monday to destroy the home of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli and shot two residents to death during clashes before pulling out, Palestinians and the Israeli army said.

Residents said soldiers arrived at the camp shortly after midnight to demolish the home of Mohammed Abu Shaheen, 39, a Palestinian in Israeli custody on charges of killing Danny Gonen, 25, near Ramallah in June. Israel at times carries out such demolitions as punishment for attacks on its citizens.

Residents threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the soldiers, who fired back, the witnesses said, killing two people and wounding others.

An Israeli army statement acknowledged that security personnel went into the refugee camp, located halfway between Ramallah and Jerusalem, to demolish Shaheen’s home.

The statement said hundreds of Palestinians attacked the soldiers, hurling fire bombs, explosive devices and rocks, and that the Israelis used anti-riot methods to disperse the mob.

The Palestinians opened fire at the force and “in response to the immediate danger, forces fired toward the attackers,” the statement said.

The army confirmed that at least three Palestinians were shot. No Israeli soldiers were injured.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the slain Palestinians as Ahmad Abu Eish, 28, and Layth Manasra, 21. Three other people were wounded, the ministry said; one was shot in the stomach and reported in critical condition at a Ramallah hospital.

Before demolishing the Shaheen home, located on the top floor of a three-story building in the middle of the crowded camp, the army ordered all residents in the area to leave their homes. Young and old people gathered in an open field far from the targeted home and stayed until after the four-hour operation was completed.

The soldiers used explosives to demolish the apartment, where Shaheen’s wife and two daughters also had lived, damaging the entire building and other homes in the neighborhood. Debris from the blast blocked narrow alleys nearby.

Abu Eish and Manasra were buried in the camp in the afternoon in a funeral attended by hundreds of people. Later, young residents of the camp clashed with Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint nearby. A number of people were injured, said the Health Ministry.

The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for the demolition of the Qalandia home and four others in the West Bank when it rejected a petition by the owners to block the action.

Three homes were demolished early Saturday in the West Bank city of Nablus and a fourth in a town near Ramallah after Israel accused members of the families living there of attacking Israelis.

Israel has faced a series of small-scale attacks by Palestinians in recent weeks, many of them carried out using weapons as simple as knives. Israeli forces have killed more than 85 Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since Oct. 1, more than half of them shot while or after attacking Israelis.

The violence was sparked by disputes over access to a holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

On Monday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah condemned the killings and home demolition in Qalandia.

“The world, as it fights terrorism, has to put an end to the crimes of the occupation and Israeli contempt for international law and human rights principles, and it should provide international protection to our people,” he said in Ramallah.

Abukhater is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.