Israel Destroys Homes of Palestinians Suspected of Killing Israeli Teens

(Reuters) – Israeli troops on Monday demolished the homes of two Palestinians it suspects of the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank in June, the army said.

The homes of Hussam Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha were destroyed before dawn and the house of a third suspect, Marwan Kawasme, was sealed up, the army said.

Israel accuses Hamas Islamist militants of the abduction and killing of Jewish seminary students Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, who went missing on June 12 and were discovered dead a couple of weeks later in the West Bank.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the accusations.

Hussam Kawasme, a 40-year-old resident of the West Bank city of Hebron, was arrested on July 11 but the other two suspects remain at large, the army said.

The killings set off a cycle of violence that began with the suspected revenge murder by three Jewish suspects of Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khudair, 16, in Jerusalem and led to a now five-week war between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Khudair’s father, Hussein, demanded equal justice under Israeli law for Mohammed’s killers, saying their homes should also be destroyed.