IDF raid two Palestinian towns as Gaza death toll nears 20,000

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) stormed the West Bank towns of Tubas and Tammun using combat equipment, the Palestinian agency WAFA reported.

It said that after several Israeli patrols with military equipment arrived in Tubas, there were exchanges of fire and street battles.

Tammun was also the scene of street fighting. A military bulldozer entered the town.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian man suspected of killing an Israeli father and son in a terror attack in August.

Troops went into the town of Aqraba overnight and destroyed the home of Osama Bani Fadl, who was arrested last month over the shooting deaths of Shay Silas Nigreker, 60, and his 28-year-old son Aviad Nir in August. The Ashdod residents were killed at a carwash in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, in August.

Soldiers clashed with protesters at the scene, firing stun grenades and gas bombs, injuring 14. 

Israeli authorities often take punitive action such as home demolitions even before a conviction in cases of terrorist attacks. Jerusalem defends the practice of razing the family home of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults and officials have argued that speed is essential, claiming that the deterrent factor degrades over time.

Over the years, several Israeli defence officials have questioned the efficacy of the practice, and human rights activists have denounced it as unfair collective punishment.

Meanwhile, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza climbed towards 20,000.

The death toll from airstrikes and grim conditions for nearly 2 million people displaced from their homes with little access to food, clean water or sanitation is fuelling growing international anger, even among Israel’s close allies.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause in order to enable the release of hostages, but he added: “We don’t intend to stop our attack on Hamas in order to undermine their military capabilities or their ability to rule Gaza.”