Israel Demolishes Home of Suspected Palestinian Assailant in Nablus

Israeli army at predawn Tuesday demolished the house of a Palestinian prisoner suspected of partaking in a fatal attack which killed two Israeli settlers near Nablus in early October 2015, according to local sources.

Israeli forces broke into Nablus city, in northern West Bank, at midnight and demolished the doors and windows of the apartment of Zaid Amer, located at the fourth floor of a building in Khallet al-Eman neighborhood, as a punishment against his fmaily.

Other apartments in the building also sustained partial damages due to the demolition of Amer’s apartment.

Israel accuses Amer, along with four other Palestinian detainees, of shooting and killing two Israeli settlers near the illegal settlement of Itamar, to the southeast of Nablus, in early October 2015.

Israeli military has already demolished the homes of the other three detainees to punish their families.

Israel resorts to punitively demolish the family homes of any Palestinians – as means of deterrence - accused of being involved in attacks against Israelis, a policy that Israel does not use against Israeli settlers who were involved in fatal attacks against Palestinians.

This policy was widely condemned by human rights organizations as “collective punishment” and “a war crime and a crime against humanity”.

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, says: “The people who bear the brunt of the [punitive] demolitions are relatives – including women, the elderly, and children – whom Israel does not suspect of involvement in any offense.”

“In the vast majority of cases, the person whose actions prompted the demolition was not even living in the house at the time of the demolition,” adds the group.

“The official objective of the house demolition policy is deterrence … yet the deterrent effect of house demolitions has never been proven.”

It said that, “Since this constitutes deliberate harm to innocents, it is clear that even if house demolition had the desired deterrent effect, it would, nevertheless, remain unlawful.”

Amnesty International, argued that, the Israeli authorities’ claim that such demolitions are effective in dissuading potential attackers “is entirely irrelevant in the eyes of International humanitarian law, which places clear s on the actions which an occupying power may take in the name of security, and the absolute prohibition on collective punishment is one of the most important of these rules.”

“Collective punishment is never permissible under any circumstances.”

Source: WAFA