QALQILIA, June 21, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli army on Tuesday demolished the house of a Palestinian who was recently shot dead by the army, in a collective punishment against his family, according to local sources.

Witnesses told WAFA that an Israeli army force accompanied by bulldozers broke into the village of Hajja, east of Qalqilia in the West Bank, and demolished the internal walls of the house of the family of Bashar Masalha, who was shot dead by Israeli police in March 2016 after he allegedly stabbed and killed a US national in Tel Aviv.

Israel resorts to punitively demolish the family homes of any Palestinians – as means of deterrence - accused of being involved in attacks against Israelis, a policy that Israel does not use against Israeli settlers who were involved in fatal attacks against Palestinians.

This policy has been widely condemned by human rights organizations as “collective punishment” and “a war crime and a crime against humanity”.

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, says: “The people who bear the brunt of the [punitive] demolitions are relatives – including women, the elderly, and children – whom Israel does not suspect of involvement in any offense.”

“In the vast majority of cases, the person whose actions prompted the demolition was not even living in the house at the time of the demolition,” adds the group.

“The official objective of the house demolition policy is deterrence … yet the deterrent effect of house demolitions has never been proven.”

It said that, “Since this constitutes deliberate harm to innocents, it is clear that even if house demolition had the desired deterrent effect, it would, nevertheless, remain unlawful.”

M.N