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
Israel’s hostage forum releases AI-generated video of last Gaza captive
- The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling
JERUSALEM: An Israeli group representing the families of Gaza hostages released on Tuesday an AI-generated video of Ran Gvili, the last captive whose body is still being held in the Palestinian territory.
The one-minute clip, created whole cloth using artificial intelligence, purports to depict Gvili as he sits in a Gaza tunnel and appeals to US President Donald Trump to help bring his body back to Israel.
“Mr President, I’m asking you to see this through: Please bring me home. My family deserves this. I deserve the right to be buried with honor in the land I fought for,” says the AI-generated image of Gvili.
Gvili was 24 at the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
He was an officer in Israel’s Yasam elite police unit and was on medical leave when he learnt of the attack.
He decided to leave his home and brought his gun to counter the Hamas militants.
He was shot in the fighting at the Alumim kibbutz before he was taken to Gaza.
Israeli authorities told Gvili’s parents in January 2024 that he had not survived his injuries.
The AI clip was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing those taken captive to Gaza.
The Forum said it was published with the approval of Gvili’s family.
“Seeing and hearing Rani speak in his own voice is both moving and heartbreaking. I would give anything to hear, see and hold him again,” Gvili’s mother Talik said, quoted by the Forum.
“But all I can do now is plead that they don’t move to the next phase of the agreement before bringing Rani home — because we don’t leave heroes behind.”
The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.
In the first stage, Palestinian militants were expected to return all of the remaining 48 living and dead hostages held in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, militants have released 47 hostages.
In the next stages of the truce, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Florida later this month to discuss the second phase of the deal.
