Days of Palestine, New York –Human Rights Watch (HRW) blasted on Saturday Israeli policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians.
The American organisation called it “collective punishment” and a “war crimes” and called for its immediate end.
HRW criticised actions of demolition that leave the families of suspected Palestinians homeless, and “unlawfully punish people not accused of any wrongdoing.”
“Punitive home demolitions are blatantly unlawful,” said HRW deputy Middle East and North Africa director Joe Stork. “‘Israel’ should prosecute, convict, and punish criminals, not carry out vengeful destruction that harms entire families.”
Most recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the demolition of the homes of the several Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem after they were accused of carrying out attacks against Israelis.
Over the summer, Israeli occupation renewed its controversial policy – discontinued in 2005 – of destroying the homes of Palestinian fighters as a deterrent measure.
The Israeli military ended an earlier policy of punitive home demolitions in 1998, but reinstituted it after the start of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000.
From 2000 to 2005 Israeli forces punitively destroyed more than 650 Palestinian homes, displacing more than 4,000 people, according to data collected by B’Tselem, an Israeli rights organisation.
In 2009, Israeli forces punitively demolished and sealed off the family homes of Palestinians who killed Israelis.
In the recent 51-day Israeli war, the Israeli occupation demolished thousands of homes accusing their owners of hosting Palestinian fighters.
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