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Palestinians arrested over murder of Israeli father and son: army

Before dawn, the army destroyed the family homes of Kerem Razek, Samir Kusa and Yahya Haj Hamed, all three of whom are awaiting trial for the murder of Eitam and Na’ama Henkin in their auto in front of their young children.

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“Our ambulance reached the scene, and the military refused to allow them and threatened them and told them to leave”, he said.

The gunman used an AK-47 assault rifle and more than 10 bullets were fired, the TV station said, adding that he had accomplices.

Nimar said that the Israeli army has often delayed access to scenes of attacks. Responsibility for the attack was not claimed, but Hamas issued a statement calling the killings “heroic”.

Also Friday, a Palestinian was shot and killed in clashes with Israeli troops during a protest rally in the West Bank.

Israeli military was granted clearance from the Supreme Court to raze the homes of Palestinians’ accused of attacks.

The violence over the past six weeks has, in part, been fuelled by an increase in Jewish visits to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Eighty-six Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire since the beginning of the unrest, whereas 14 Israelis died of running over and stabbing attacks implemented by Palestinians. The demolitions in Nablus prompted clashes between protesters and the Israeli army in which nine Palestinians were wounded, two of them by live ammunition, Palestinian medical sources said.

Israel has employed a policy of house demolitions in the West Bank and the Gaza strip since 1967. However, he realizes that any resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations fashioned along the line of previous negotiations with United States mediation will fail, not only because of political factionalism in Israel and among the Palestinians, but also because he is domestically constrained to pressure Israel unilaterally, especially during presidential elections.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he is ready to jump back into the hard world of Mideast peace-making. He said his experience and network of contacts made during eight years of diplomacy in the region will help him.

“I am not going to comment on those other than to say that what I have found since leaving the Quartet role is it has been easier to have conversations of complete frankness with people”, he said. “And since I have the relationships, people are maybe prepared in a few way to be more forthcoming”, he said.

However, the state was never accomplished on the ground due to the struggling peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis.

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Blair’s return comes at a hard time.

Palestinian protesters throw stones toward Israeli forces during clashes at the entrance of the Palestinian city of al Bireh which lies on the outskirts of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank