Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

Demolition of Palestinian Houses as a Means of Punishment and
Deterrence
Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000, IOF have demolished
Palestinian houses and razed areas of Palestinian agricultural land in the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip under the pretext of confronting attacks by Palestinian gunmen
against Israeli targets. Under this policy, they have targeted most Palestinian houses
located near Israeli settlements, or in areas of armed attacks, claiming that these
houses were used by Palestinian gunmen to launch attacks on IOF posts and Israeli
settlements, and so these actions have been “military necessities.” Israel depends in
its claims on its own interpretations of international humanitarian law, considering
that the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War of 1949 grants the occupying power the right to respond to all threats posed to its
forces in military operations zones. This interpretation, even if accepted, does not
exempt the occupying power, according to the Convention, from its legal obligations
towards civilians and their property. The Convention obligates the occupying power,
during military operations, to protect the lives and property of civilian. This
obligation applies to Israel as an occupying power and a party to the Convention.
However, Israel, during military operations, has disregarded the lives and property of
Palestinian civilians in the OPT. Most of the house demolitions carried out by IOF in
the OPT have been retaliatory. In the majority of cases, Israeli occupying forces
impose an atmosphere of terror during house demolitions. IOF, reinforced with tanks
and bulldozers, regularly encroach into targeted areas at night. They fire live bullets
and tank shells in an apparent attempt to force civilians to evacuate the area. They
then demolish houses, leaving civilians with no choice but to leave the area and
abandon their property. IOF demolish dozens of houses and sometimes endanger the
lives of Palestinian civilians living in these houses. Thus, house demolition is a form
of collective punishment that violates the Fourth Geneva Convention; Palestinian
civilians are punished for offences they do not commit.
The international community has exerted pressure on the Israeli government to stop
this policy, which has disastrous impacts on Palestinian civilians. As a result of such
pressure, the Israeli government took a decision in February 2005 to stop the house
demolition policy adopted by IOF against families of Palestinians who carried out,
planned or facilitated attacks against Israeli targets in the OPT or inside Israel, or
against houses that harbor those Palestinians. 34 IOF had adopted this policy since the
beginning of the current Intifada in the context of “combating terrorism and its
infrastructure”. For example, on 13 January 2005, IOF moved into Qarawat Bani
Zaid village, northwest of Ramallah. They planted explosives inside a 180-squaremeter,
2-storey house belonging to Majed Rebhi 'Arar. They then destroyed the
house, rendering eight people homeless. Two Palestinians who had been hiding in the
house were killed by IOF on the preceding day. The owner was also arrested. In
spite of the Israeli government’s decision, IOF have continued to demolish Palestinian
houses even though the number of houses demolished by IOF in 2005 was small in
comparison with previous years. Most house demolitions in 2005 took place during
34 For more details, see: http://www.arabnet.com/article.asp?did=127430.EN.
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