In a collective punishment step, Israeli forces demolish family home of Palestinian detainee in Nablus

NABLUS: In a collective punishment step, the Israeli occupation forces demolished after midnight on Tuesday the family home of a Palestinian detainee in the village of Duma south of Nablus, whom Israel accuses of allegedly carrying out an attack that resulted in the killing of a colonist. Chairman of Duma Village Council, Suleiman Dawabsheh, told WAFA that large Israeli military forces, reinforced by three military bulldozers, stormed the said village and cordoned off the two-storey family home of detainee, Ahmad Samer Dawabsheh, before punitively demolishing it. Dawabsheh was detained by the occupation from his home on April 22, after he allegedly killed a colonist. Israel resorts to punitively demolishing the family homes of any Palestinians - as a 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. Al-Haq human rights group slammed the punitive home demolition of Palestinians suspected of being involved in attacks against Israelis, as a collective punishment and that in accordance with humanitarian law and human rights law, it is assessed as 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.' 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.' Amnesty International, argued that the Israeli authorities' claim that such demolitions are effective in dissuading potential attackers 'is entirely irrelevant in the eyes of International humanitarian law, which places clear limits on the actions which an occupying power may take in the name of security, and the absolute prohibition on collective punishment is one of the most i mportant of these rules.' 'Collective punishment is never permissible under any circumstances.' Source: Palestine news & Information Agency - WAFA