Ramallah: Israeli troops demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of the May killing of a soldie<\/b>
\nRamallah: Israeli troops demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of the May killing of a soldier on Saturday, completing a night-long incursion into the Palestinian-controlled city of Ramallah.
The raid on the West Bank city where Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has his headquarters comes as Israeli forces search for the perpetrator of a Thursday shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.
The incursion late Friday triggered clashes with angry residents following a week of rising tensions.
Both army and border police units took part in the operation, including members of the commando unit in which the soldier was serving when he was killed by a slab hurled from a building during an army raid.
Several hundred soldiers entered the city\u2019s Al-Amari refugee camp late Friday, leaving on Saturday morning, AFP journalists reported.
\u201cDuring the operation, dozens of Palestinians instigated a number of violent riots. The rioters hurled rocks towards the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means,\u201d the army said.
Inside the camp, soldiers demolished the home of Islam Abu Hamid, who was arrested in June for the soldier\u2019s killing.
The family house was completely destroyed in a controlled explosion, AFP correspondents at the scene said.
Neighbours said several hundred residents, including children, were ordered out of their homes and kept in a sports field in the cold of night while the army operation continued.
\u201cThe weather was very cold. A lot of the elderly, the children and the women were ill,\u201d said Samir al-Tukhi, one of those kept outside.
It is the third time the house has been destroyed, with several of Abu Hamid\u2019s brothers also jailed by Israel on terrorism charges, while one was killed.
Their mother, Latifa, told AFP the demolition didn\u2019t matter to her.
\u201cThe first time we rebuilt it, the second time we also rebuilt it. One hundred or one thousand times we will rebuild and they demolish it.\u201d
Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis.
It argues it is a deterrent though critics say it amounts to collective punishment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure from right-wing rivals and Jewish settlers for a strong response to the killing of the soldiers on Thursday.
It was the third deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank in two months and set off demonstrations by settler groups on whose support Netanyahu\u2019s government depends.
In clashes on Friday, a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli fire, the Palestinian health ministry said. The army did not comment on the death.<\/p>\n