Over the course of January 2016, the military has so far issued punitive demolition orders for three houses: two in the Hebron district, and one in the Salfit district. HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual filed objections on behalf of the families, and in one case, also on behalf of a neighbor, against the plan to seize and demolish the homes.
One order was issued on January 3, 2016, against the family home of the man who perpetrated an attack on November 4, 2015, in the Halhul intersection near Hebron. The flat in question, located in a three-story building in Hebron, is home to the perpetrator’s parents and four siblings, who had no connection to the attack. On January 5, 2016, HaMoked filed an
objection on behalf of the family, and the neighbors, asking that the order be revoked or reduced to sealing off the room used by the perpetrator, given that he was a bachelor living with his parents. HaMoked cautioned that the planned demolition might cause severe damage to all other housing units in the building, home to 27 people, including children – particularly given the lack of detail as to the method of demolition in the order.
Another demolition order was issued on January 19, for the family home of a man suspected of committing an attack in Tel Aviv on November 19, 2015. The man shared his home with his wife and five children. On January 24, 2015, HaMoked filed an
objection seeking the revocation of the order for the demolition of the home in the village of Dura, Hebron district. HaMoked stressed that there was no evidence tying the family to the incident and that the demolition would seriously harm six innocents who would be left homeless, adding that given the fact that the suspect had been indicted, but the trial has not yet ended, using “the argument of ‘deterrence’ in isolation from the penalty the court will impose on the perpetrator […], contradicts fundamental principles in Israeli law”.
On January 20, 2016, the military issued a third demolition order, for the home of one of the suspects in the Old City of Jerusalem attack on October 30, 2015, in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Salfit district. HaMoked filed an
objection on January 25, demanding the revocation of the order. HaMoked argued that the decision to demolish the home despite the fact that the family had no involvement in the attack and despite the fact that the young man had lived in Abu Dis University residence for the past three years, rather than at his parents’ home, is disproportionate and severely harms innocents.
HaMoked argued, and not for the first time, that the decision to harm innocents for the purpose of deterrence, is unacceptable and constitutes collective punishment, prohibited under international law. HaMoked reiterated its principled position that the punitive demolition policy is wrong, has not been proven effective and in fact, reality on the ground points to its failure.
