Center for the Defence of the Individual - HaMoked in objections to the intended punitive demolition of an apartment in a residential building in Hebron: the demolition jeopardizes the entire structure and might leave dozens of innocent people without a home
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
24.08.2015

HaMoked in objections to the intended punitive demolition of an apartment in a residential building in Hebron: the demolition jeopardizes the entire structure and might leave dozens of innocent people without a home

On November 10, 2014, a Palestinian man from Hebron stabbed a woman to death with a knife and slightly injured two other people who were standing at the hitchhiking stop near Alon Shvut junction, after his initial attempt to run them over with his car failed. The assailant was convicted in court, and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. On the day of the attack, the military arrived at the assailant’s home, questioned his wife and took several articles from the apartment. His wife, afraid that the military might return to her home, moved with her two children – aged six and eight – to live at her parents’ home.

On August 19, 2015, the military announced its intention to seize and demolish the assailant’s apartment, located on the third floor of an apartment building. There are eight families living in this building, whose only connection to the assailant is the close proximity of their apartments to his.

On August 24, 2015, HaMoked filed two objections against the intended demolition, one on behalf of the assailant’s wife, the other on behalf of the neighbors living in the building.

In its objections, HaMoked asserted that the decision to demolish the apartment was unbalanced given the heavy punishment the assailant had already received and the damage that would be caused to the neighboring apartments – inhabited by fifty people in all, including small children. HaMoked emphasized that the apartment slated for demolition is the only property which the woman owns, and the only possibility she and her children have for living independently. HaMoked further stressed that the demolition would cause massive damage to the private property and belongings of the innocent occupants of the building. This claim is supported by an engineer expert opinion concluding that the demolition – or sealing – of the apartment might cause the entire structure to collapse.

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