Israeli army demolishes home of alleged Palestinian attacker

The Israeli military said Monday its troops demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli in a stabbing attack earlier this year.

The military said that during the demolition late Sunday, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and about 150 Palestinians who it said threw rocks and burned tires. The military said it responded with "riot dispersal means," which typically refers to tear gas and stun grenades.

Mofeed Dweikat, the mayor of Rojeeb, where the home was located, said troops tore down the two-story home and that three people were lightly wounded by rubber-coated bullets in the clashes that ensued.

Israel accuses the Palestinian, Khalil Dweikat, 46, of stabbing to death a 39-year-old Israeli man in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva in August.

Israeli police said at the time that Dweikat, who had entered Israel from the occupied West Bank on a work permit, fled the scene. He was later apprehended and is being prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

The military said the home demolition came after an Israeli court rejected an appeal by the alleged attacker's family to block the move.

Israel says it carries out home demolitions as a deterrent against attacks by Palestinians. Critics say the measure is a form of collective punishment.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) found Israel seized, destroyed and forced Palestinians to demolish 76 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank in September.

The Palestinian structures were demolished under the premise that they do not have an Israeli permit – one deemed almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Israel demolished homes, water and sanitation facilities, and animal shelters.