PA: International silence regarding demolition of Palestinian homes ‘war crime’

Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi with her oxygen tube and her husband Muhammed Al-Rajabi are seen at their building’s wreckage after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi with her oxygen tube and her husband Muhammed Recebi are seen at their building’s wreckage after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Palestinian Muhammed Al-Rajabi is seen at his building’s wreckage after Israeli forces demolished his house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi with her oxygen tube and her husband Muhammed Al-Rajabi are seen at their building’s wreckage after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Wreckage of a building belonging to Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi her husband Muhammed Al-Rajabi is seen after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Wreckage of a building belonging to Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi her husband Muhammed Al-Rajabi is seen after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Wreckage of a building belonging to Palestinian Basma Al-Rajabi her husband Muhammed Al-Rajabi is seen after Israeli forces demolished their house with the claim of being unlicensed in Beit Hanina town of Old City, East Jerusalem on 6 November, 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry considers the international silence regarding the demolition of Palestinian homes a “war crime” and a “crime against humanity,” Quds Net reported yesterday.

Commenting on the Israeli demolition of two Palestinian homes in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina, the ministry said: “The demolition of two homes and displacing their residents is an integral pat of ethnic cleansing… aiming to evacuate Palestinians from East Jerusalem and replacing them with Jewish settlers.”

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The ministry warned of the consequences of “dealing with Palestinian homes as mere numbers”.

It added: “House demolition hides the suffering of [the displaced] Palestinian families, including children, women and the elderly, in addition to economic suffering.”

The ministry said it was “shocked” at the weak international responses to Israel’s “flagrant violations” of international law and human rights principles.