Jerusalem ? Israeli soldiers destroyed two houses belonging to suspected West Bank militants Friday and reportedly arrested a Palestinian sniper they link to the shooting death last year of an Israeli baby.

A senior aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left Friday for consultations in several Arab capitals as Israeli-Palestinian security talks hit a stalemate and violence continued.

The military destroyed the house of Iyad Sawalha, an Islamic Jihad member who was responsible for a suicide attack in which a bomber blew himself up in a car next to an Israeli bus in Israel’s north on May 6, killing 17 passengers. Troops also knocked down the family home of Murad Abu Asal, who blew himself up on Jan. 30, wounding two Israeli soldiers.

Israel has demolished at least 20 homes of suicide bombers and suspected militants since late July in an attempt to dissuade other Palestinians from carrying out attacks. The Supreme Court upheld the policy on Aug. 6. The Palestinians and human rights groups denounce the practice as collective punishment.

Israel regularly demolished militants’ homes more than 400 of them, according to the Israeli rights group Btselem during the Palestinians’ 1987-1993 intefadeh. But it had largely halted the practice.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on its Internet site that the army on Friday arrested suspected sniper Sudki Zaro, linked to the killing of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass. The army refused comment.