8) Israeli Collective Punishment:

    Demolition of Homes of Suicide Bombers

In an attempt to deter the Palestinians from carrying out attacks and suicide bombings inside Israel, the Israeli government referred to the policy of demolishing the homes of the suicide bombers, or their families’, and deportation of their closest relatives to Gaza Strip. This Israeli measure received approval from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Minister of Defense, Ben Eliazer.

For example, on 18/7/2002, the Israeli Forces demolished the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks in the settlement of Emanuel (near Nablus) and in Tel-Aviv. On that day, the Israeli Army demolished four homes in ‘Askar Refugee Camp near Nablus, and arrested 24 people from the families of the two suicide bombers.

Following is a table showing the number of Palestinian houses that were demolished by the Israeli Forces in the period 20/6/2002 – 20/8/2002:

Area / Region                                     Number of Houses Demolished

Nablus                                                5

Jenin                                                   9

Bethlehem                                           7

Hebron                                               6

Tulkarem                                            5

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Total                                                 32

The Israeli government intends to demolish (or permanently close) the homes of the members of the Hamas cell from Silwan, East Jerusalem, who were arrested by the Israeli intelligence service on 21 August 2002 and suspected of carrying out a series of fatal attacks against Israeli targets.