US condemns Israeli decision to demolish Palestinian homes

The US State Department has criticised the Israeli decision to demolish the houses of the Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis, reports said.

Spokeswoman of the US State Department Jen Psaki said that “we believe that punitive demolitions are counterproductive to the cause of peace and exacerbate an already tense situation.”

Israeli authorities decided on Thursday to demolish the homes of Palestinians who carried out a tractor attack in Jerusalem this past summer, raising the anger of the United States.

Ten years ago, the Israeli authorities relinquished this policy believing it was counterproductive.

However, the Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said during a visit to the illegal Israeli settlement of Etzion in the West Bank that this policy “proved it was successful in the war on terror.” It is worth mentioning that Israel continued this policy in the past.

On Wednesday, Psaki condemned Israeli plans to build 200 new Jewish settlement units in Ramot Settlement in occupied Jerusalem, warning that such moves would only “exacerbate” spiralling tensions in the city.

She also blasted an arson attack on a mosque in a Palestinian Arab village carried out by extremist Jewish settlers.