The Israeli occupation forces demolished this early morning the homes of the heroes of the “Ariel” operation months ago, Youssef Assi and Yahya Merei, in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank. 

Local sources reported that the Israeli occupation bulldozers razed the home of the family of Assi and blew up the home of the family of Merei, leading to protests.

During the protests, Israeli occupation soldiers fired tear gas and concussion grenades at the Palestinians and caused many to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The protesters chanted slogans for Palestinian equal rights, and to put an end to the discriminatory practice of preventing Palestinians from building on their land, while allowing Israelis to take over stolen Palestinian land with impunity.

The Israeli occupation forces had abducted the two young men, Yahya Marei, 19, and Yousef Assi, 20, from Salfit, in late April after they carried out a heroic operation against a colonial settler in the "Ariel" settlement.