After the abduction of three Israeli youths in the summer of 2014, Israel resumed its use of punitive house demolitions, an unacceptable and unlawful policy.
Israel demolished four homes in the West Bank last summer.
Punitive demolition orders were issued against four homes in East Jerusalem.
On December 31, 2014, the HCJ
rejected a petition filed by HaMoked together with a number of human rights organizations against the use of punitive house demolition. On the same day, the court also
rejected the petitions filed by HaMoked against the demolition of the homes of three assailants from East Jerusalem. In an additional petition against a punitive house demolition in East Jerusalem, filed by HaMoked on behalf of the family of the man who shot extreme right wing activist Yehuda Glick, the court issued an
order nisi, instructing the state to explain why it should not refrain from demolishing the home. The court clarified that since the incident was less severe, as no one was killed, there was room to consider a more moderate measure than demolition.
On March 2, 2015, in
response to the court’s decision, the state announced it had decided to seal off the room occupied by the person who had shot Glick, and leave the remainder of the house intact. The state added that this was a proportionate and reasonable decision, and insisted on its position that the outcome of the act which prompted the decision to demolish the home should not be given decisive weight. The state further stated that it may, in future, consider house demolitions in cases that did not result in death.
The state delivered its response to the court two weeks before the parliamentary election, after many delays and repeated motions for extension. HaMoked is waiting to see whether the Government of Israel will go ahead with the sealing, a move that may reignite tension in East Jerusalem.
