Israeli army demolishes home of Palestinian bombings suspect

Palestinians inspect the demolished apartment of Palestinian Islam al-Faroukh, seen in the poster hanging on the front of the building, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 8, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

RAMALLAH – Clashes erupted after Israeli forces raided the city of Ramallah in the West Bank early on Thursday in what the military said was an operation to demolish the house of a Palestinian prisoner accused of a Jerusalem double-bombing last year.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 35 people were wounded, including at least 20 by live bullets. Two people suffered serious abdominal wounds while a third was hit by a rubber bullet which penetrated his skull.

Palestinian security sources told news agency Xinhua that Israeli forces stormed the West Bank city of Ramallah and surrounded the four-storey residential building in which the apartment of the prisoner, Islam al-Faroukh, was located.

The attack in November killed two people, including an Israeli-Canadian teenager, and wounded at least 14 others in what police said were coordinated explosions of improvised bombs planted at bus stops near the city exit and in a junction leading to a settlement

The Israeli forces evacuated the building before blowing up al-Faroukh's apartment on the first floor, causing damage to the whole building, the sources said.

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Avichai Adraee, the Israeli army's spokesman, confirmed in a statement that Israeli forces destroyed the home of al-Faroukh, the perpetrator of the bombings in Jerusalem last November that killed two Israelis.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes, urging the international community to stop the Israeli policy. 

"What the occupation authorities did was a heinous crime," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh was quoted as saying by the official WAFA news agency. "It turned an entire family overnight into a homeless family."

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The attack in November killed two people, including an Israeli-Canadian teenager, and wounded at least 14 others in what police said were coordinated explosions of improvised bombs planted at bus stops near the city exit and in a junction leading to a settlement.