Palestinian home destroyed for the second time by Israel soldiers

Israeli soldiers have demolished the home of Islam Yousef Abu Hamid for the second time after it was rebuilt following its initial demolition last year. The soldiers forced their way into Al-Am’ari refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah, blocked the roads and evacuated residents near the house that was demolished.

Local Palestinians confronted the soldiers outside Abu Hamid’s house. The Israelis responded with riot dispersal methods, including tear gas, which injured a few young Palestinians.

Abu Hamid was convicted of murdering an Israeli soldier during an army raid in the refugee camp last year. The 32-year-old Palestinian dropped a marble slab on Ronen Lubarsky from the roof of a building. The soldier was critically injured and died of his wounds two days later.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Abu Hamid was also ordered to pay the soldier’s family 258,000 shekels ($73,133) by a military court in July. Acquittals of Palestinians in Israeli military courts are extremely rare, and the military court system has been denounced by many international human rights organisations.

At the time of the demolition last year, the Israeli occupation forces had initially informed the Hamid family that only two floors of the building would be demolished, but in September it was decided that the entire four-storey building would be destroyed. Such house demolitions are regarded as collective punishment, which is a war crime under international law.

READ: Israel forces Palestinian to demolish his own house