Israeli forces before dawn on Wednesday made preparations for the punitive demolition of the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly attack in Jaffa the night before, locals said.

Locals told Ma’an that the Israeli military raided the family house of 22-year-old Bashar Masalha in the occupied West Bank village of Hajja before taking measurements of the home.

The forces searched Masalha’s home hours after he stabbed and killed an American tourist and injured nine other Israelis. Masalha was shot dead on scene.

Hajja was sealed by military forces following the attack late Tuesday, as was the village of al-Zawiya after 17-year-old resident Abd Al-Rahman Radad stabbed and injured an Israeli in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikvah.

The Israeli army confirmed to Ma’an that Hajja and al-Zawiya were still closed Wednesday evening following “security assessments” of the area.

All entrance and exit to the villages was still being prevented with the exception of humanitarian cases, according to the army spokesperson.

Israeli authorities have typically carried out punitive measures on Palestinian communities following individual attacks on Israelis that increased in October and have continued well into this year.

Such measures have been widely condemned by international rights organizations as collective punishment, particularly the Israeli policy of punitive home demolition.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem has slammed the policy as “court sanctioned revenge,” as demolitions punish family members of Palestinians who have already been killed following attacks or suspected attacks on Israelis.

(MAAN)