The IDF has informed the families of terrorists who recently murdered Israelis that their homes were slated for demolition.
Word went out to the family of the terrorists who murdered Danny Gonen near the village of Dolev in Binyamin four months ago, of the two men who murdered Malachi Rosenfeld near Shvut Rachel, of the three men who murdered Naama and Eitam Henkin, and of the terrorist who murdered Aharon Benita and Nehemiah Levi in the Old City of Jerusalem.
IDF units delivered the orders Wednesday night, and the tenants can appeal to the High Court of Justice in the next few days, before the demolition commences. HaMoked, an Israeli Center for the Defense of the Individual, which, according to NGO Monitor, receives about $1 million annually from foreign governmental bodies, will would submit appeals on the families’ behalf to fight the demolition orders.
An IDF unit has mapped out the condemned houses in preparation for the razing of the homes, one of the tools which proved successful in the past, re-enacted almost a year ago by the Netanyahu government to fight the wave of Arab violence.
A year ago, the IDF spokesperson said, “The IDF … will not hesitate to use any of the legal means at its disposal to hurt the terrorists and those who abet them in order to deter further terror attacks.”
The use of house demolition under international law is today governed by Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, enacted in 1949, protecting non-combatants in occupied territories, says that “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons … is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”
Israel, which is a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, has stated that Article 53 does not apply to the disputed territories because the territories do not constitute a state which is a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
In February 2005, the Israeli Ministry of Defense decided to end the demolition policy, unless there was “an extreme change in circumstances.” In 2010, 315 Arab-owned structures were demolished in east Jerusalem and Area C, and 402 Arabs were displaced. In 2009, after several lethal attacks by Arabs in Jerusalem, the Israeli High Court ruled in favor of the IDF’s decision to seal with cement the family homes of Arab terrorists as a deterrence against terrorism.