Salfit, Palestine - Israeli troops on Thursday (20/2) demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of carrying out a stabbing attack in the West Bank last year, amid a military escalation in the occupied territory.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces evacuated the occupants of the three-story house before blowing it up in the northern West Bank city of Salfit.
The house belonged to Omar Awdah, who Israel accused of carrying out a stabbing attack in August last year in the city of Holon, near Tel Aviv, that killed two Israelis and injured two others.
Awdah was then shot dead by Israeli troops.
For years, Israel has implemented a policy of home demolitions as collective punishment against Palestinian families accused of involvement in attacks on Israeli targets.
Thursday's home demolitions come amid a deadly Israeli offensive in the northern West Bank, where at least 60 people have been killed and thousands more displaced since last month.
According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli army sent reinforcements to the Jenin refugee camp, while bulldozers continued to level Palestinian homes in the area.
Tensions continue to escalate across the occupied West Bank, where at least 920 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured by Israeli army and settler attacks since the Gaza war broke out on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.