JENIN, Monday, July 6, 2020 (WAFA) – Israel today approved a military demolition order against the house of an alleged Palestinian assailant in Yabad town, to the south of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to sources.

Sources confirmed that Israeli authorities approved a military order to demolish the house of 49-year-old Nathmi Abu Bakr, also written as Nazmi, who is allegedly responsible for the killing of an Israeli soldier by dropping a rock on his head during a predawn raid that triggered confrontations in the town on May 12.

The army detained all the Abu Bakr family members at the time and later accused him of dropping the rock that killed the soldier from the rooftop of his house.

Abu Bakr, who appeared at Salem military court two weeks ago, denied all charges against him, stressing that he had nothing to do with the killing of the soldier.

He was subject to harsh interrogations since the time of his imprisonment and prevented from meeting with his lawyer for a period that lasted for over two weeks.

Last month, Israeli soldiers took the measurements of Abu Baker‘s house in preparation of the planned demolition.

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

The policy was widely condemned by human rights groups as “a collective punishment” and “a war crime and crime against humanity”.

K.T/ K.F.