Israel punitively demolishes homes of two Palestinian prisoners north of Ramallah

Ramallah (QNN) – Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday-Thursday night demolished the family homes of two Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah and nearby Birzeit town, amidst intense clashes with protesting youths.

The official Palestinian agency WAFA said a large Israeli army force raided the town of Birzeit in the midnight hours and surrounded the family home of Yazan Maghames, a prisoner in Israeli detention, before the military bulldozers proceeded to demolish it and level it to the ground.

Youths clashed with the Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas canisters towards them and at homes causing large number of suffocation cases.

At the same time, soldiers raided the Ramallah neighborhood of al-Tireh and demolished using hand tools the family residence Walid Hanatsheh since it is located in an apartment building.

Witnesses said that the soldiers surrounded the 6-floor building, inhabited by 13 families before proceeding to demolish the inner and outer walls of the Hanatsheh apartment.

Residents of the building said the soldiers forced them to stay indoors while children, woken up by the sound to the soldiers and the use of heavy tools to demolish the Hanatsheh apartment, were frightened. Serious damage was caused to the entrance to the building and some apartments, they said.

Youth pelted the soldiers with stones as they were leaving al-Tireh.

Hanatsheh and Maghames, are currently in Israeli custody for their alleged involvement along with Samer Arbeed in the killing of an Israeli soldier near the illegal colonial settlement of Dolev, located near the Palestinian village of Ras Karkar, in August 2019.

In January, the Israeli army informed the families of the intention to demolish their houses.

Israel resorts to collective punishment against families and neighborhoods of alleged Palestinians involved in the resistance of the Israeli occupation of their homeland.