Israel demolishes homes of Palestinians blamed for attack on soldiers

Israeli forces have demolished the homes of two Palestinians who killed two Israeli soldiers in Hebron last week, on the eighth day of a military offensive and siege of the southern West Bank city.

Troops blew up the homes of brothers Ahmad and Hammouda al-Jaabeh on Friday after surrounding the buildings since the morning and sealing off the area. The brothers were killed after an attack on October 23 near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint at Hebron's western entrance, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded.

Reporting from Hebron, Al Jazeera's Mohammed al-Atrash said army engineers spent at least nine hours rigging the homes with explosives before detonating them. When residents tried to approach the site afterwards, troops backed by drones detained at least 12 Palestinians, he said.

Israeli forces have fully emptied the Ein Deir Bahha neighbourhood, with some homes turned into military barracks and command centres, while hundreds of families in neighbouring al-Jalda remain trapped in their homes, al-Atrash reported.

The Hebron municipality said on Tuesday that 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been displaced by the offensive. Al-Atrash said at least 120 Palestinians had been arrested since the operation began, hundreds more interrogated, and at least 13 businesses near the checkpoint demolished.

Israeli officials have threatened to speed up demolitions in Area C under measures approved by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich after the attack. On Friday, dozens of displaced residents protested near the closed al-Jalda roundabout, demanding an end to the siege and the right to return home.