The official return of Israel's punitive house demolitions

Thirteen family members sat on the remnants of their home early Wednesday morning. The house, in the West Bank village of Idna, was destroyed after hundreds of Israeli soldiers descended on the area at around 3am and detonated explosives just 12 hours after a petition against the demolition was rejected in the High Court of Justice.

The building was home to relatives of Ziad Awad and it was reduced to rubble as punishment for the allegations against him- marking the return of punitive house demolitions as an Israeli state policy.

Awad, 42, had been sentenced to life for the murder of suspected Palestinian collaborators. He was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Last week the Military Advocate General indicted Awad for the murder of off duty policeman Baruch Mizrahi, a married father of five, near Hebron in April. Mohammed Awad, the defendant’s brother, and his 18-year-old son were indicted last week for helping Ziad flee the crime scene.

Awad was arrested in May, but his arrest was only announced by the Shin Bet on the day of his indictment in a West Bank military court on Monday. Within 24 hours a demolition order was issued and posted to his family’s home. The family and human rights groups petitioned the High Court of Justice against the order, saying it constituted collective punishment, which is forbidden by international law. The homes of Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aysha, accused of killing the Israeli teens who went missing on June 12th, were demolished the day before.

The practice of punitive house demolitions was supposedly abandoned in 2005, after an Israeli army panel headed by Major General Udi Shani reported that they had no deterrent effect that would prevent any future “terror” attacks. The Shani panel “unequivocally recommended putting an end to the demolition of homes in the territories [and] the chief of staff and the defense minister both fully endorsed and adopted the recommendation,” according to an article published in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

According to Jerusalem Post, one government official explained the decision to renew the practice by saying Israel “hopes to level the playing field.”

“On the Palestinian side you have a whole package of incentives to carry out terrorist attacks, such as if we arrest the terrorist, their families get a generous allowance from the PA. There is a whole system of economic support for terrorism,” he said. “We know that a house that is demolished can be rebuilt, but this levels the playing field somewhat.”

While this may be the first time the Israeli government has officially reinstated punitive house demolitions as a state policy since 2005, instances have occurred, such as the destruction of a home belonging to the family of Husam Taysir Dwayat- a Palestinian construction worker who allegedly went on a rampage while operating a bulldozer in July 2009.

“The Israeli authority’s own resources and analysis claim that punitive house demolitions do not deter terrorism, violence or resistance to the occupation,” said Ruth Edmonds of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). “This is an arbitrary system of punishment,” she said.

“It is one of the worsts aspect of the occupation,” said Edmonds. “The right to have a home is a basic right. Everything stems from having a home, it is the starting point. You go out to work, you go out to school, and then you come back home. Taking that away from people is despicable.”

Palestinian rights group Al- Haq estimates that during the first decade of the occupation at least 1,000 homes were demolished punitively. The number dropped during the mid 1970’s and approximately 100 were demolished or sealed from this time until the early 1980’s. With the onset of the first intifada at the end of 1987, the Israeli authorities escalated the policy- displacing 8,000 Palestinian people during the uprising. During the Al-Aqsa intifada, nearly 650 houses were destroyed as a result of such demolitions, leaving 3,000 Palestinians homeless.

In these instances, rights group B’Tselem noted, “The main victims of the demolitions were family members, among them women, the elderly, and children, who bore no responsibility for the acts of their relative and were not suspected of involvement in any offense.”

As Awad’s family picked through the rubble to salvage anything possible, it is clear who bears the brunt of such a policy. For children who once called the rubble home, the psychological impact can be devastating. A study released by Save the Children-UK, the Palestinian Counselling Centre and the Welfare Association states that, “Children who have had their home demolished fare significantly worse on a range of mental-health indicators, including withdrawal, somatic complaints, depression/anxiety, social difficulties, higher rates of delusional, obsessive, compulsive and psychotic thoughts, attention difficulties, delinquency and violent behaviour.”

ICAHD estimates that some 27,000 Palestinian structures have been demolished in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967- only 6% of these were punitive. In 2012 alone over 7,000 were destroyed for “military purposes” and the destruction of nearly 4,000 others was justified on the basis of “administrative reasons.” In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the continuous hum of the Israeli bulldozers is the background noise to Palestinian’s daily life.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.