Israeli court refuses appeal, will go ahead with demolition of family home in Hebron

An Israeli court this week refused a family’s appeal to stop the demolition order on their home in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, the family told Ma’an news agency.

After failing to establish an appeal, Israeli forces will go forward with the demolition order on the family home of Palestinian prisoner Maher Hamdi al-Hashlmoun, 31, the family said.

Al-Hashlmoun was detained last year under the charges of killing of an Israeli settler and assaulting two others near the Gush Etzion settlement. The Israeli court found al-Hashlmoun guilty, and charged him with two life sentences and a fine of 4 million shekels ($1.5 million).

In a phone call with the Mujhat al-Quds institution, a Palestinian prisoners advocacy group, al-Hashlmoun’s wife said that “refusing the appeal means that the Israeli excavators can demolish the house at any moment and without a prior warning.”

Israeli forces issued the home demolition notice two months previously, after raiding the family’s home in al-Zaytoon neighbourhood of south Hebron. The family was given 48 hours to object to the notice.

Muhjat al-Quds institution condemned the decision of demolishing the al-Hashlmoun home and urged the international community to step in, in order to stop Israeli violations against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and their families.

Before his detainment in 2014, al-Hashlmoun had previsously served a five year sentence in Israeli jails. After his initial release, al-Hashlmoun enrolled in Hebron University but did not finish his degree before he was detained and charged last year. Al-Hashlmoun is married with two daughters, Obaida and Mariam.

Punitive measures

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to fast track the demolition of family homes of alleged attackers, following the recent upheaval in the occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel that has seen seven Israelis and more than 35 Palestinians killed.

Netanyahu’s call has been criticized as an illegal form of collective punishment due to its displacement of Palestinians who have not committed crimes.

The PM’s orders to carry out punitive home demolitions had led rights groups to repeatedly call on the Israeli government to end the ongoing and daily pressure of the Israeli occupation rather than carry out collective punishment across the occupied area.

The measures come amid efforts imposed by Israeli authorities to stop the current escalation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

While many of the most recent demolition orders have been issued in the Ramallah and Hebron districts in Area A of the occupied West Bank – under full control of the Palestinian Authority – Israel regularly enters the area in violation of international law and the PA does not intervene in such orders.

Families can generally file objections to punitive demolition orders and appeal to Israel’s high court, like al-Hashlmound, but Human Rights Watch reported last year that in such appeals, “Israel’s High Court of Justice has refused to apply the absolute prohibition in customary international law against the collective punishment of civilians.”