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| The effectiveness of house demolitions as a deterrence has been questioned. In 2005 an Israeli Army commission to study house demolitions found no proof of effective deterrence and concluded that the damage caused by the demolitions overrides its effectiveness. As a result, the IDF approved the commissions recommendatiosn to end punitive demolitions of Palestinian houses. <ref></ref> | The effectiveness of house demolitions as a deterrence has been questioned. In 2005 an Israeli Army commission to study house demolitions found no proof of effective deterrence and concluded that the damage caused by the demolitions overrides its effectiveness. As a result, the IDF approved the commissions recommendatiosn to end punitive demolitions of Palestinian houses. <ref></ref> | ||
| A number of ] organizations, including ] and the ], oppose the practice. They argue that the practice violates international laws against ], the destruction of ], and the use of force against civilians.<ref></ref> | A number of ] organizations, including ] and the ], oppose the practice. They argue that the practice violates international laws against ], the destruction of ], and the use of force against civilians.<ref></ref> | ||
| Israeli historian ] writes: | Israeli historian ] writes: | ||
Revision as of 17:43, 9 June 2007
- This article is about a tactic for combating an insurgency. For civilian demolition of houses, see demolition.
House demolition (also known as house razing) is a tactic for combating an insurgency, particularly an insurgency which employs suicide attacks. Although house demolitions have been used in small-scale in a number of conflicts, house demolition has become a controversial component of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Purposes
House demolition has several purposes:
- Deterrence, achieved by harming the relatives of those who carry out, or are suspected of involvement in carrying out, attacks
- Destroying militant infrastructures such as bombs labs, headquarters and offices.
- Forcing out an individual who barricades inside a house, which may be rigged with explosives, without risking soldiers' lives.
- Prevent shooting on forces by destroying possible hideouts.
- During combat: to demolish a house from which militants are shooting.
- Clear way for tanks and heavy APCs.
Means
- Armored bulldozers
- Explosives planted by Combat engineering forces.
- Bombing the house with artillery or aircraft
History
Punitive house demolitions are rooted in British military practices dating to the early twentieth century. In 1945, British Mandate authorities formally legislated these practices under the Defence (Emergency) Regulations. Regulation 119 states that
" (1) A Military Commander may by order direct the forfeiture to the Government of Palestine of any house, structure, or land from which he has reason to suspect that any firearm has been illegally discharged, or any bomb, grenade or explosive or incendiary article illegally thrown, or of any house, structure or land situated in any area, town, village, quarter or street the inhabitants or some of the inhabitants of which he is satisfied have committed, or attempted to commit, or abetted the commission of, or been accessories after the fact to the commission of, any offence against these Regulations involving violence or intimidation or any Military Court offence; and when any house, structure or land is forfeited as aforesaid, the Military Commander may destroy the house or the structure or anything growing on the land.
According to author Samuel Katz, "Destroying the house of a terrorist ... was cruel and after the fact, but it was meant to convince fathers to convince their sons that carrying out a terrorist attack, no matter how justified in the grander struggle, meant enormous hardship for the family."
House demolitions are usually done without prior warning and often during the night. The home's inhabitants are given little time to evacuate - usually between a few minutes to half an hour.
House demolition has been used in an on-again-off-again fashion by the Israeli government during the al-Aqsa Intifada. More than 3,000 homes have been destroyed in this way, making tens of thousands homeless. House demolition was used to destroy the family homes of Saleh Abdel Rahim al-Souwi (perpetrator of the Tel Aviv bus 5 massacre) and Yahya Ayyash (Hamas's chief bombmaker, known as "the engineer"), as well as the perpetators of the First and second Jerusalem bus 18 massacres, and the Ashqelon bus station bombing.
Criticism and responses
The effectiveness of house demolitions as a deterrence has been questioned. In 2005 an Israeli Army commission to study house demolitions found no proof of effective deterrence and concluded that the damage caused by the demolitions overrides its effectiveness. As a result, the IDF approved the commissions recommendatiosn to end punitive demolitions of Palestinian houses.
A number of Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, oppose the practice. They argue that the practice violates international laws against collective punishment, the destruction of private property, and the use of force against civilians.
Israeli historian Yaacov Lozowick writes:
"Demolishing the homes of civilians merely because a family member has committed a crime is immoral. If, however,... potential suicide murderers... will refrain from killing out of fear that their mothers will become homeless, it would be immoral to leave the Palestinian mothers untouched in their homes while Israeli children die on their school buses."
References
- House demolitions as punishment
- Another house pulled down in Chechnya
- The House Demolition Policy
- THE LEGALITY OF HOUSE DEMOLITIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
- ^ Katz, Samuel (2002). The Hunt for the Engineer. Lyons Press. ISBN 1585747491., page 160
- Katz, 280-281
- Is the House Demolition Policy Legal under International Humanitarian Law?
- [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/01/12/usint6924.htm Iraq: U.S. Demolitions May Violate Laws of War
- Human Rights News: IDF House Demolition Injures Refugees
- Yaacov Lozowick (2004): "Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars" ISBN 1400032431. p.260