In the largest demolition of Palestinian Authority buildings in Gaza in three years, the Israeli army Sunday blew up three apartment towers in retaliation for a deadly settlement attack. Troops evacuated more than 2,000 Palestinians from surrounding homes before razing the towers, which the army said had served as staging points for militants who killed three soldiers at the nearby Jewish settlement of Netzarim Friday. “I hope it will be a good message to the Palestinian Authority not to let their infrastructure be used for terror,” Brigadier Gadi Shamni told Reuters at the Netzarim garrison after the 13-storey apartment blocks were blown up, sending smoke into the sky and shockwaves across the Gaza Strip. Palestinians denounce Israel’s demolitions policy as collective punishment. Israel says it is aimed at deterring militant attacks in an uprising that erupted in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in September 2000. Israel said the three buildings had been used for planning Friday’s attack that killed three soldiers, two of them women. Full Story
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