JERUSALEM, January 27, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli troops on Wednesday stormed the house of a Palestinian youth who was shot dead by Israeli army on Monday, and photographed the house, located in Qalandia refugee camp, seemingly in preparation to demolish it to punish his family.
Local sources in Qalandia, north of Jerusalem, said an Israeli police force broke into the house of Hussein Abu Ghoush, 17 years old, and photographed it from inside and outside, a measure that Israeli authorities usually take prior to demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks on Israeli targets.
In recent months, Israel resumed the policy of punitive demolitions, claiming that such procedure would deter others from carrying out similar attacks. Research showed the policy to have minimal deterrence effect though.
This policy was widely slammed 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/M.H
