The Israeli army demolished homes early Thursday belonging to four Palestinians allegedly involved in the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank earlier this year.
The demolition order for the homes in the village of Beit Kahel, near Hebron, was issued in September. The four men are currently in jail.
Clashes broke out during the demolition, with dozens of Palestinians throwing stones at the soldiers, according to the Israeli army.
No serious injuries were reported, according to Palestinian sources.
In August, the body of a 19-year-old soldier was discovered in Gush Etzion, in the West Bank, with multiple stab wounds. According to an army spokeswoman, he was wearing civilian clothing at the time.
Israel's policy of destroying the homes of suspected, convicted or even killed Palestinian attackers has been condemned by human rights organizations as a war crime and form of collective punishment. The attackers' families are often left homeless after the demolitions.
Israel justifies the action by saying it deters future attackers.
Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza Strip, part of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.
More than 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want these areas and the Gaza Strip for their own state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.
