Israel seizes money meant to rebuild Palestinian home

Israeli occupying authorities confiscated 48,000 shekels ($13,500) earlier today from the family of an imprisoned Palestinian, which was meant to fund the construction of his family’s demolished home, according to Ynet News.

Israel alleged that the funds came from Hamas and was given to the family of Murad Badr Ideis, who was convicted of stabbing an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank last year when he was 15 years old. In November, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, despite his lawyers’ appeal for him not to be tried as an adult.

Ideis’ family was also forced to pay a fine of 1.75 million shekels ($458,875) and their house in occupied Hebron was demolished by Israeli occupying forces, leaving his relatives homeless overnight.

The family reportedly planned to use the money to rebuild their razed home and restart their lives since the incident.

Read: Palestinians face intensifying demolitions, evictions in Jerusalem

Amnesty International is amongst a number of human rights organisations which have condemned Israel’s policy of collective punishment, in which the families of imprisoned or slain Palestinians have their homes demolished in an effort to punish them for their family member’s actions.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem has condemned the practice of punitive house demolitions as “court-sanctioned revenge” carried out on relatives who have not committed crimes, and is considered illegal under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increased demolitions of Palestinian homes since 2015. The move is justified as part of a policy of deterrence, despite previous military committee statements that such actions do not prevent attacks.