Israel razes home of Palestinian who killed Israeli teenager

Israel's army said on Monday that troops demolished overnight the family home of a Palestinian who stabbed to death a Jewish teenager in her settlement home.

A military statement said that the home of Mohammed Tra'ayra, 17, in the West Bank village of Bani Naim near Hebron, was demolished.

On June 30, Tra'ayra entered a home in the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba and killed 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel while she was in her bed.

Ariel, who held a dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, was the youngest Israeli victim in a yearlong spate of violence, which has claimed the lives of 34 Israelis and at least 220 Palestinians.

Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes since it occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, as a punitive measure aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks against Israelis.

In early 2005, a defense ministry committee concluded that the measure is ineffective, and Israel ceased to use it.

However, the government renewed the controversial practice about a year ago, in the wake of the fresh wave of attacks. The U.S. administration has denounced it as "counterproductive" and Palestinians and human rights organizations describe it as collective punishment that leaves the relatives homeless. Endit