On October 25, 2015, the military announced that it rejected two additional objections filed by HaMoked against punitive demolition orders. In one case, HaMoked’s
objection sought the cancelation of the demolition order issued against an apartment in Nablus, which is the home of the family of the suspects implicated in the attack on October 1, 2015, in which the Henkin couple had been killed. The family’s apartment is in a four-storey semi-detached building. In the other case, the HaMoked filed an
objection to the military’s demolition order against the home – in Jabal Mukabber, East Jerusalem – of the family of the assailant who perpetrated the attack in Malchei Yisrael St. in Jerusalem on October 13, 2015.
In its objection concerning the apartment in Nablus, HaMoked pointed out that the apartment was on an intermediate floor of a densely populated building. The demolition of the intermediate floor might cause massive damage to the neighboring apartments and thus leave many innocent families without a home. In its refusal, the military completely disregarded this argument, and claimed instead that, “contrary to the alleged in the objection,
the assailant’s apartment is not located on the ground floor but on the middle floor out of three” (original emphasis). No such claim was made in the objection; what HaMoked had actually said was that the suspect’s parents were living on the ground floor. This only shows that the military hasn’t bothered to examine the objection meticulously, and that it treats such a crucial matter as the demolition of innocent families’ homes in an offhanded manner.
In its objection concerning the home in Jabal Mukabber, HaMoked maintained that given the fact that a week before the attack in question, the military had demolished the family home of the assailant’s cousin, evidently, contrary to the state’s claim, house demolition did not deter potential assailants, but rather sustained the cycle of hatred and violence. In rejecting the objection, the disregarded the connection between the events, and concluded that the structure should be demolished, having “considered all possible alternatives, including the sealing of the house, in order to achieve the aim of the authority, and also the level of the benefit that might rise from the demolition”.
HaMoked will petition the High Court of Justice (HCJ) against these demolition orders until October 27, 2015, at 12:00 noon, in accordance with the tight schedule set by the military.
