Demolition of Palestinian homes, an act of collective punishment, Amnesty International says
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 1/15/2002

Amnesty International condemned on Monday the demolition of dozens of homes in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, as an act of collective punishment and a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

Amnesty International, which says it visited many of the areas along the border between Rafah and Egypt where the Israeli troops have been demolishing houses, reports that sometimes Palestinians, who have been given no notice of the demolitions, have been killed or wounded as their homes are destroyed.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered Block O, in the area near the border with Egypt, on January 9 and demolished 56 homes without warning. The following night, Israel shot heavy tank shells on other Palestinian residential areas injuring eight people, and reportedly damaging more than 200 homes, many of which may now be unsafe for habitation.

"Six hundred people, most of them children, were left homeless in this raid against quarters that had no relationship with the attack on the military post," said Amnesty International.

The demolition of houses is one of the acts considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War which prohibits: "Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations... except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."

"Over the past 16 months, at least 250 homes have been demolished in Rafah making more than 1,500 people homeless, the vast majority of them children," Amnesty International said, adding that in the past four days, in the middle of winter, hundreds more men, women and children have been forced to live in donated tents.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres announced a halt to the policy of demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On the same day as his statement, nine Palestinian homes in Isawiyeh in East Jerusalem were demolished by the Jerusalem municipality allegedly because they had failed to get planning permission.

"Israel should cease this policy which has been universally condemned," the organization added, recalling that the United Nations' Committee against Torture concluded as recently as last November that house demolitions may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in breach of the UN Convention against Torture.

After four Israeli soldiers were killed on January 9, 2002 in an attack by Hamas on a military post on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) entered Rafah with tanks and bulldozers and demolished houses.

In Brussels, the European Union expressed worries over and reprobation of the razing of Palestinian houses and other infrastructure, including the Gaza airport. A statement released by Spanish foreign minister, Josep Pique, whose country chairs the European Union, says it is necessary and even urgent to find a solution to the humanitarian consequences entailed by these practices.

Pique, who is on a tour to the Middle East region, will address this issue with Israeli and Palestinian officials, says the statement.

Previous Stories:
  Further deterioration in the occupied Arab territories   (1/14/2002)
  Palestinian authority warns over explosion after Israel's destruction of runway   (1/11/2002)
  Hundreds of Palestinians homeless after Israel razed houses   (1/10/2002)

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