The Israeli military on Wednesday demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a lethal stabbing attack in a West Bank Jewish settlement in January. In the January attack, Hussein Mohammed Abu Ghosh and another Palestinian armed with knives and improvised explosive devices stabbed two women near a supermarket in the settlement of Beit Horon and were killed by an Israeli security guard, the military said. One woman, Shlomit Krigman, 23, later died of her wounds. The home demolition took place in the Qalandia refugee camp, which straddles the area between the West Bank and Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. Israel says demolitions are meant to deter attacks, but critics say the tactic is collective punishment. Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli forces during the demolition, the military said. Forces tried to disperse the crowd, the military said, then fired live bullets at what it called the "main instigators." Two soldiers were lightly injured, and Ramallah Hospital said eight Palestinians were injured.
Meanwhile, Israel has arrested six West Bank settlers for violence against Palestinians that included an assault and an attempt to set fire to a home, the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday, describing the suspects as a "Jewish terror cell". The group, which included a soldier and two minors, sought to copy the 2015 torching of a house in the West Bank town of Duma that killed three members of a Palestinian family, a Shin Bet statement said. Israel has indicted a West Bank settler for triple murder in the Duma arson and holds another as his alleged accomplice, part of a crackdown launched against Jewish militants believed to be behind violence against Arabs, Christians and army sites.
There has been a seven-month wave of Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks, against Israeli civilians and security forces. In that time, 28 Israelis and two Americans were killed. At least 189 Palestinians have also been killed. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were attackers, with the rest killed in clashes with security forces. Israel says the violence is fueled by a campaign of Palestinian incitement compounded on social media sites that glorify and encourage attacks. Palestinians say the violence is due to a lack of hope for gaining independence after years of failed peace efforts. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek the territory for an independent state.
