On Monday, March 6, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ordered police to continue destroying Palestinian homes during Ramadan, breaking a status quo that had been in place for years. Israel did not carry out such house demolitions during this holy month, in particular to avoid further increasing tensions with the Palestinians.
With our special correspondent in the Shuafat refugee camp, Alice Froussard
There is rubble on the ground and gaping holes in the facade of this family building. Israeli authorities demolished this apartment in the middle of the Shouafat refugee camp over a year ago.
It was that of Fadi Abu Shkheidam who, in November 2021, killed an Israeli in the Old City before being shot. His mother, Samira, shows what remains of the second floor. ” This is to seal the door, so that no one enters it, she explains. No one has been able to go there since, even though they demolished everything. But they left all the rubble. »
His eyes moisten; she hasn’t come for months and admits that she still doesn’t understand her son’s action. Since the demolition, the entire structure of the building has been affected, the walls are no longer as solid, water infiltrates as soon as it rains, the electricity keeps cutting…
Lojain Abu Shkheidam, his daughter-in-law, lives in the apartment below. There are cracks everywhere, in the ceiling, in the living room, in the bathroom, in the children’s room. ” Look at ! It’s because of the top demolition. What is this state of mind? If we haven’t done anything to you, why are you punishing us? “, she is indignant.
Israel accused of ‘domicide’
One way ” to dissuade » the next attacks, justifies the Israeli government. For Jessica Montell, director of HaMoked, it is difficult not to conclude that there is a form of revenge: ” Home demolitions are a gross violation of rights that we have almost grown accustomed to. And that is potentially a war crime, according to the Rome Statute: extensive demolitions of property when not for military reasons. But all this is only accelerating: these demolitions, but also other forms of collective punishment. »
These house demolitions, both punitive and administrative, have continued to intensify since the arrival of the new government coalition, the most right-wing in history. According to OCHA, 253 Palestinian structures have been demolished since the beginning of 2023, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 372 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions.
Last February, three United Nations special rapporteurs accused Israel of “domicide”. Association of “home” and “homicide”, this term allows to put a name on the violence which represents the destruction or the expropriation of the “home”, as well as the social and psychological trauma which goes with it.