‘Collective punishment is a policy of terror’

Demolishing the homes of Palestinians “suspected of carrying out attacks” on Israelis is a long-held practice of Israel. Thousands of Palestinian people have lost their homes to demolitions in what human rights groups say is a policy by Israel of “collective punishment” that may amount to war crimes.

• Describing a policy of “collective displacement” being carried out against Palestinians through such collective punishments and home demolitions, Shtayyeh added that Israeli forces were being shielded by “the immobility and double standards of the international community”. 

‘Collective punishment’: Israel demolishes Palestinian homes

Israel’s policy of demolishing the family homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis is considered a war crime.

". . .According to residents, the Israelis spent hours planting explosives that later pulverised the Faroukh family’s apartment.

Video footage of the operation showed soldiers painstakingly planting explosives in the walls of the home before the massive blast that turned the spacious apartment to ruins and rubble, while also blowing out the windows of homes in the neighbourhood.

“My son is still under arrest and has not been tried yet,” Islam’s mother Abeer Faroukh told Al Jazeera.

“How is the house blown up in such a way that affected the whole neighbourhood, before a fair trial for my son?” she asked.

With her son innocent until proven guilty in court,  Abeer Faroukh says the “real crime” was the destruction of the family’s home and the damage done to the neighbourhood. . .

Visiting what was left of the Faroukh family home following the Israeli demolition operation, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Israeli forces were engaged in a “full-scale reinvasion of the West Bank through its daily raids into Palestinian towns and cities. . .

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA Link > AL JAZEERA

>