Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Israel should immediately stop destroying the family homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks on Israelis, stating the practise amounts to a war crime.
Last week, Israeli authorities demolished the family homes of a Palestinian man who rammed his car into a baby and woman at Jerusalem station, killing them both. HRW noted that in 2014, there have been 5 times that Israeli forces have destroyed Palestinian family homes, leaving dozens homeless.
“When carried out in occupied territory, including East Jerusalem, it amounts to collective punishment, a war crime,” said HRW.
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director, added, “punitive home demolitions are blatantly unlawful... Israel should prosecute, convict, and punish criminals, not carry out vengeful destruction that harms entire families.”
The demolitions took place despite the German, French, British, Italian and Spanish ambassadors calling on Israel to halt the practise.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon confirmed that the European Union diplomats had met with Israel regarding the practise, but said "this is not meant to be punitive, but rather to dissuade others from carrying out terrorist attacks."
US State Department Jeff Rathke commented on the situation last week, saying,
"We believe that punitive home demolitions are counterproductive in an already tense situation. This is a practise I would remind that the Israeli government itself discontinued in the past, recognising its effects."
The practise looks set to continue after the killing of four men in a synagogue in Jerusalem last week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirming “there will be more home demolitions, there will be many more steps.”
Following the murders, Mr. Netanyahu said, "we will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by lowly murderers."
"This is a direct result of incitement led by Hamas and Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), incitement that the international community has been irresponsibly ignoring," he said.
"We are in a long campaign in a war against terrorism. There are some who want to uproot us from our state and capital. They will not succeed. We are in a battle over Jerusalem, our eternal capital.”
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
