A soldier was moderately wounded and a Palestinian teenager was killed during clashes that broke out on Monday near Jenin during the demolition of the home of one of the terrorists who killed Yehuda Dimentman last December.
Hundreds of rioters clashed with Israeli security forces, throwing stones, firebombs and other improvised explosive devices. The rioters also fired at soldiers, who responded with live fire, the IDF said.
#شاهد| لحظة تفجير قوات الاحتلال لمنزل الأسير محمود جرادات في بلدة السيلة الحارثية غرب جنين. pic.twitter.com/7MmAnyyp0s
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) February 14, 2022
Muhammad Akram Ali Taher Abu Salah, 17, died after he was shot in the head, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded, including three critically, when troops responded with riot dispersal methods, it said.
The soldier was injured when a wall of the home fell on him as it was being demolished. He remained conscious and was evacuated to a hospital.
In January, the IDF said it would demolish the home of Mahmoud Jaradat in Silat al-Harithiya, near Jenin.IDF soldiers demolish home of one of the terrorists who killed Yehuda Dimentman, February 14, 2022 (Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Israel says home demolitions, which are a controversial tactic, are a key deterrent to stop other potential attackers. Palestinians and human-rights groups criticize the army for using collective punishment by demolishing the homes of terrorists’ families.
The IDF believes there is no exact science to stopping terrorist attacks, but home demolitions have led to attacks being thwarted and less motivation to carry them out.
Dimentman, 25, was killed near the Homesh outpost in the West Bank in a shooting attack carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members.
Dimentman was married and the father of a toddler. He was a resident of the Shavei Shomron settlement and a student at the Homesh Yeshiva, located close to where the attack took place.
Tensions have been high in the West Bank for the past few months, with more than a dozen attacks against Israelis and gunfire targeting military posts. Two Israelis, Dimentman and Eli Kay, were killed in shooting attacks.
The attacks carried out by lone wolves or members of PIJ or Hamas included shootings, vehicular rammings, stone-throwing and stabbings.
Attacks in the West Bank have been mostly contained, and most of the attackers were killed by security forces before they could carry them out. However, there have been a number of attacks that have occurred inside Israel, including in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
There has also been a rise in the number of Palestinians killed by soldiers, including last week, when undercover forces killed three terrorists in a daytime raid in Nablus.
The terrorists were involved in several shooting attacks against civilians and soldiers in the West Bank, the IDF said. Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the shooting attacks and said the three terrorists were “heroic martyrs.”