Israel destroys West Bank home of Palestinian attacker: army

Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said today.

Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank during the early hours of Tuesday morning, the military and witnesses said.

The family home was destroyed, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

The army said its forces "demolished the residence of the terrorist Mohammed Dar Youssef from the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah." Dar Youssef snuck into the Adam settlement south east of Ramallah in July, stabbing three Israelis, one fatally, according to the Israeli authorities.

He was then shot dead by a local resident.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to the widow and other relatives of Yotam Ovadia, the victim of the Adam attack, to destroy the house quickly.

The stabbings also led Lieberman to pledge to build more settler homes in response.

Israel authorised plans for more than 1,000 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank on August 22, including 370 in the Adam settlement.

Israel rejects the widely held view that settlement expansion is one of the greatest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians.