HEBRON: The Israeli military said it demolished two homes on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron belonging to Palestinians accused of carrying out a deadly attack in Tel Aviv in October of 2024.
In a statement, the military said its forces “destroyed in Hebron the homes of the two terrorists who carried out the attack at the Jaffa light rail station in which seven Israelis and foreign residents were murdered and 15 additional civilians were injured.”
The attack took place on October 1 last year, just as Iran was launching a wave of around 200 missiles at Israel in support of its allies Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hamas, which had been at war with Israel since its October 7, 2023 attack, claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv shootings, and said they “coincided with the painful strikes... executed by Iran.”
The assailants, armed with “an M-16 automatic rifle, several magazines, and a knife,” according to Israeli police, had opened fire on tram passengers and pedestrians.
One of the attackers, 19-year-old Muhammad Misk, was shot dead in the street, while the other, Ahmad Al-Haimoni, was wounded and arrested, police said.
Haimoni had lived on the second story of a three-story house. The middle floor of the structure was demolished with explosives, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
Israel, whose army has occupied the West Bank since 1967, regularly destroys the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks against Israelis.
The government argues that these demolitions serve as a deterrent, but critics denounce them as collective punishment that leaves families homeless.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 905 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 32 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel destroys West Bank homes of 2 alleged Palestinian attackers
https://arab.news/wyh4n
Israel destroys West Bank homes of 2 alleged Palestinian attackers
- The military said its forces “destroyed in Hebron the homes of the two terrorists who carried out the attack at the Jaffa light rail station"
- The attack took place on October 1 last year
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
