JERUSALEM, April 11, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli police on Monday blocked off with metal bars the house of a Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails, during a raid on the neighborhood of Sur Baher in Jerusalem.

WAFA correspondent said the police closed with metal bars the windows and doors of the house of Abed Dewayat, who is currently held in Israeli custody, as a punishment against his entire family.

Police also banned the entry and exit of Palestinians into and out of the area during the raid in Sur Baher area.

Israeli authorities have accused Dewayat of partaking, along with four others, in the stoning of the car of an Israeli settler which resulted in his death in September 2015.

Israel resorts to punitively demolish or block off 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 was 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