Palestinian home razed by Israeli army in Nablus

The home belonged to a man accused of masterminding the killing of a Jewish settler couple.

Palestinians inspect the apartment of Rajeb Aliua, a Palestinian held in an Israeli prison, after it was blown up by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus on December 3. Reuters

NABLUS // Israel on Thursday demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian accused of masterminding the killing of a Jewish settler couple, the army said.

A spokeswoman said that troops in the northern West Bank city of Nablus destroyed the home of Rajeb Aliua early in the morning.

“He oversaw the terror squad which carried out the murder of Naama and Eitam Henkin” she said, adding that Mr Aliua was a member of the militant Hamas movement.

The organisation has not claimed responsibility for killing the Henkins, who were shot in front of their young children as they drove on a West Bank road between the northern settlements of Itamar and Elon Moreh.

A few days later the army and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service said they had arrested Mr Aliua and other suspects.

The October 1 shooting was followed two days later by a knife and gun attack in Jerusalem, in which a Palestinian said to be a militant killed two people and wounded two others, including a child.

It marked the beginning of a wave of violence which has so far claimed the lives of more than 120 people, including 104 Palestinians and 17 Israelis.

* Agence France-Presse