Israel shows 'price to pay'
2004-05-27 14:59
Jerusalem - The Israeli army destroyed the family homes of two Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Nablus, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
The soldiers used explosives to demolish the second floor of the home of Nayef Abu Sarah, the Nablus head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a radical offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement.
Israeli soldiers also destroyed the family home of Sami Sayed Salameh, a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was killed five days ago in a suicide attack in the West Bank.
An army spokesperson said the demolitions had been carried out as "a message to the terrorists and their accomplices, showing that there is a price to pay for their actions".
He added that such demolitions would continue, despite criticism from human rights watchdogs.
Further south in Bethlehem, the army searched the offices of a charity group linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and arrested five employees, Palestinian security sources said.
In the central Gaza Strip, the Israeli army conducted an overnight raid in Deir al-Balah, levelling three homes and damaging seven others, security sources said.