Israeli forces demolish homes of two Palestinians accused in deadly Hebron attack

Israeli forces destroyed two Palestinian homes in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday, October 30, Middle East Monitor reported, attributing its account to Anadolu. The homes belonged to two men whom the Israeli military accused of involvement in a checkpoint shooting that killed two soldiers.

Local sources cited in the report said explosives were used to bring down the houses in Ain Deir Baha. The demolitions took place on the eighth day of an extensive Israeli military operation in Hebron, according to Middle East Monitor.

The military's accusation concerned an October 23 shooting at a checkpoint near Farsh al Hawa, west of the city. Middle East Monitor cited Israeli authorities as saying the attack left two soldiers dead and wounded another three. Israeli forces also killed both suspected attackers, those authorities said.

In the days after the shooting, Israeli forces closed off areas of Hebron, carried out raids, made arrests and demolished structures in parts of the city, Middle East Monitor reported. Its account placed Friday's destruction of the two homes within that continuing operation.

The operation had displaced 4,969 Palestinians belonging to 780 families from Deir Baha and Al Jilda, Hebron Municipality said in an October 27 statement cited by Middle East Monitor. Those figures were announced before Friday's home demolitions and covered displacement from the two areas.

Residents' return was also subject to military restrictions, according to the report. It attributed to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz a statement that people evacuated from parts of Hebron could return only after forces finished operations targeting infrastructure that Israel attributed to Hamas.

The United Nations had expressed concern about violence beyond Hebron. In a statement dated October 23, it said it was “extremely alarmed” by worsening violence across the occupied West Bank as Israel moved to close off the territory after the deadly attack on its soldiers in Hebron.