(VIDEOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The Israeli military on Monday partially demolished the home of a Palestinian terrorist accused of killing two Israelis in an attack two months ago.

The house itself, located in the West Bank village of Tulkarem, was left intact while a part of its interior was destroyed.

Palestinian protesters arrived to watch the military demolition on Monday, and afterward clashed with Israeli forces.

The military said it was carrying out “operational activity.”

Ashraf Naalweh was accused of killing two Israelis, Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi H”YD, in the Barkan Industrial zone in October. Israeli troops killed Naalweh in an arrest raid last week after a two-month manhunt.

Israeli-Palestinian violence spiked last week, touched off by a pair of deadly shootings by Hamas terrorists. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the expedited demolition of terrorist’s homes.

While Israel believes the practice serves as a deterrent to potential attackers, critics say the demolitions amount to collective punishment.

Meanwhile, the army has intensified its search for the Palestinian attackers, stepping up its raids in the West Bank and arresting suspected Hamas members.

Also Monday, Israeli police said they have arrested an Israeli suspect charged with beating up a Palestinian bus driver during last week’s spasm of violence.

The suspect, an Israeli in his 20s from an ultra-Orthodox religious Yishuv in the West Bank, appeared in court Monday. The bus driver, hospitalized last week with a broken eye socket and severe bruises, told his brother that a group of Jewish teenagers beat him before fleeing on Friday.

Police said they were still searching for more suspects and investigating the incident.

הבוקר הרסו כוחות צה"ל בשיתוף לוחמי משמר הגבול וכוחות המנהל האזרחי, את המרתף והקומה הראשונה במבנה בו התגורר המחבל אשרף נעאלוה ובני משפחתו בכפר שוויכה.
נעאלוה ביצע את פיגוע הירי באזור התעשייה ברקן בו רצח את קים לבנגרונד-יחזקאל וזיו חג'בי ז"ל ופצע ישראלית נוספת באורח בינוני pic.twitter.com/w3z5b9KH47

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 17, 2018

Meanwhile, Bayit Yehudi party chairman Minister Naftali Bennet and party MK Moti Yogev are proposing a bill that would permit expelling the family of a terrorist.

According to the Maariv report, they first wanted to be permitted to expel family members of terrorists to Gaza, albeit without success. The new watered-down version would permit ‘relocating’ them from their home village in Yehuda and Shomron to another venue in the same areas.

While both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit oppose the bill, which they explain would not stand the test of the International Court of Justice, Bennet managed to push it through the ministerial committee without their backing. It is to be determined if the bill call pass in Knesset.

If passed into law, the government would have a period of seven days following an attack to act, to relocate the family in accordance to the law, as an act of deterrence against future attacks.

(AP / YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)