The army says riots erupted during the demolitions and Palestinian demonstrators opened fire on soldiers, who returned fire toward the “main instigators”. The suspected Palestinian attacker was shot dead following the attack in the girl’s bedroom.
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The violence has been compounded by continued frustration among Palestinians at the lack of progress in the peace process, settlement building, occupation of their lands in violation of worldwide law and harsh, Israeli-imposed security measures.
No formal announcement was made late on Sunday, but the liberal Haaretz newspaper quoted an unidentified Israeli official as saying the move was coupled with a decision, which drew right-wing criticism, to erect 600 homes for Palestinians in an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
“We will continue operating against terror in all places and at all times in a determined, aggressive manner”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories they are built on were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
The move comes as a response to a series of deadly Palestinians attacks against Jewish settlers.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified him as Mohammed Tarayreh, 17, from the Bani Naim village near the settlement.
Hallel Yaffa Ariel was sleeping when a Palestinian teenager entered her house in Kiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron, and killed her Thursday.
“It is troubling that the Quartet appears to have adopted the position that the presence of Jews living in the West Bank somehow prevents reaching a two-state solution”.
A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
Dozens of Palestinians were injured as clashes broke out between Palestinian protestors and Israeli security forces, as hundreds of Palestinians attempted to cross into Jerusalem to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third most holy site, on the last Friday of Ramadan.
“The report also perpetuates the myth that Israeli construction in the West Bank is an obstacle to peace”.
Early Saturday morning, Israeli forces bombed four sites across the besieged Gaza Strip after Palestinian fighters fired a rocket into the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
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Peace talks have been at a complete standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
