JERUSALEM, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces demolished early Wednesday the West Bank home of a Palestinian who killed three members of a family in a knife attack in an Israeli settlement in July, officials said.
A military spokesperson said in a statement that an army bulldozer demolished the two-story home of Omar al-Abed, 20, in the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah, as soldiers and border police officers prevented locals from approaching the area.
Palestinian media reported that the arrival of security forces sparked a protest and a Palestinian journalist was injured in his head during the clashes.
According to the spokesperson, the demolition was carried out by the army, border police and the Civil Administration, an Israeli governing body in the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, the police arrested al-Abed's father, mother, two brothers and one of his uncles, on suspicion of failing to prevent the crime.
The initial interrogation showed the family knew about al-Abed's intentions but failed to report it to Israeli or Palestinian authorities, the police said.
After the house was destroyed, Michal Salomon, whose husband was killed in the attack, said the measure was insufficient and called for a death penalty for Palestinian assailants.
"Their house can be rebuilt, my home has been destroyed forever," she said in a statement. "We need the death penalty so that these terrorists will not be able to build a new home."
On July 21, al-Abed sneaked to the settlement of Halamish, stabbing to death a father, his daughter and his son before he was shot and injured by a neighbor.
In a post on Facebook, the stabber said he was deeply concerned about the recent violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in annexed East Jerusalem and wanted to protect it.
Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes since it occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, as a punitive measure aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks against Israelis.
In early 2005, a Defense Ministry committee concluded that the measure is ineffective, and Israel ceased using it.
However, the government renewed the controversial practice in 2015 when facing a new wave of attacks.
The United States has denounced it as "counterproductive," while Palestinians and human rights organizations say it constitutes a collective punishment that leaves the relatives homeless.
