On October 22, 2015, HaMoked submitted
nine High Court petitions seeking to compel the military to cancel the demolition orders issued against six homes, in which reside families of Palestinian assailants or suspected assailants in attacks. That day, the High Court of Justice (HCJ) issued temporary injunctions in all of the petitions banning the seizure or demolition of the structures pending another decision. At the same time, the state requested the court to consolidate the hearings on all nine petitions HaMoked had filed concerning the planned demolition of the six homes (a tenth petition was filed by a private attorney on behalf of the owner of an apartment in Silwad, which he rented out to the family of one of the suspected assailants).
The nine petitions concern the following:
Nablus – three homes, in which reside the families of the three suspects in the attack on October 1, 2015, in which the Henkin couple was killed; three petitions were filed on behalf of the families, and three more were filed on behalf of the neighbors living close by.
Silwad near Ramallah – two homes, in which reside the families of two of the men suspected of involvement in the attack on June 29, 2015, during which Malachi Rosenfeld was killed; two petitions were filed on behalf of the families.
Qalandia Refugee Camp – the family home of the suspect in the attack on June 19, 2015, in which Danny Gonen was killed; a petition was filed on behalf of the family.
HaMoked’s petitions will all be heard jointly on October 29, 2015, 9:00 a.m., by Justices Naor, Melcer and Sohlberg (the tenth related petition will be heard on November 2, 2015). The state initially requested to bring forward the date of the hearing on the two petitions on the homes in Silwad to October 26, 2015.
HaMoked firmly objected to this, holding that “this attests to the political pressure applied these days to expedite the demolitions”. HaMoked stressed that
– in a most irregular manner – the state’s request was submitted and
also accepted by the court secretariat even though it arrived
without the petitioners’ response. The court therefore denied the state’s request.
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To date, punitive demolition orders are pending against three additional homes:
A demolition order against one more apartment in Nablus, the residence of the family of one of the suspects implicated in the attack on October 1, 2015, in which the Henkin couple was killed;
A demolition order against the apartment in Jabal Mukabber, the residence of the family of the assailant in the attack in Jerusalem on October 13, 2015, in which Yeshayahu Krishevsky was killed;
A demolition order against the apartment in Surda in the Ramallah District, the residence of the family of the assailant in the stabbing attack in the Jerusalem Old City on October 3, 2015, in which Aharon Benitah and Nehemia Lavi were killed.
In the next few days HaMoked will petition the court against these intended demolitions.
