Israeli occupation forces demolished a Palestinian-owned house last night during a raid into the village of Rummanah, in the northern West Bank province of Jenin, according to local sources.
WAFA correspondent reported that the demolition targeted the home of the family of the late martyr Kamel Mahmoud Abu Bakr, whose body is being held by Israeli authorities.
Israel accuses Abu Baker of carrying out a shooting operation earlier this year in Tel Aviv resulting in the alleged killing and injury of multiple Israelis. He himself was shot dead by the Israeli police in the aftermath of the alleged incident.
According to the sources, an Israeli army unit involving jeeps and bulldozers tightly surrounded the village, closed its entrances, raided several homes and converted them into military observation points before proceeding with the demolition of the house.
Mahmoud Abu Bakr, the slain Palestinian youth’s father, told WAFA that he was not informed about the demolition and was surprised by the Israeli militar
y raid of the village. During the raid, the Israeli occupation army demolished his two-story house, spanning 360 square meters, displacing his family of six.
In a subsequent development, Israeli occupation forces physically assaulted and abused several civilians after raiding their homes in the village.
Israeli occupation authorities have long used to punitively demolish the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks on Israelis, a policy that Israel does not apply to Israeli settlers who are involved in fatal attacks against Palestinians.
The policy has been widely condemned by human rights groups as a collective punishment and a war crime.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, says: ‘The people who bear the brunt of the [punitive] demolitions are relatives – including women, the elderly, and children – whom Israel does not suspect of involvement in any offense.’
‘In the vast majority of cases, the person whose actions prompted the demolition was not even living in the house at the time of
the demolition,’ adds the group.
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA