Israel demolished the family home of the alleged Palestinian assailant in the New Israel-Palestine conflict

The demolition of Montaser Shalabi’s house attracts criticism from the US that rights groups say the policy is a collective punishment.

Israeli forces have demolished the home of a Palestinian-American man last May on charges of involvement in a shooting that killed one Israeli and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank.

Student Yehuda Guetta was shot dead in an attack near the city of Nablus, where Montaser Shalabi was charged in an Israeli military court.

After Shalabi’s family filed an appeal against the demolition in an Israeli court, the military said the two-story villa in Turmus’ayya, a town where many Palestinian Americans live, was picked up in a controlled explosion on Thursday.

The bombing of the house of Montaser Shalabi, a Palestinian prisoner in Turmusayya. #montaser_shalaby pic.twitter.com/vefusquMPN

– #SaveSilwan ???? (@falastiniya_) July 8, 2021

Israel has said the demolition scares away potential Palestinian attackers. Palestinians and rights groups condemn politics as a collective punishment.

Shalabi’s wife, Sanaa, who lived with Turmus’ayya at home with three children, said she spoke to her husband on the phone on Thursday. He described it as a “resister” and decided to rebuild the house.

“They want to demoralize us, but we are firm. This is the situation of the entire Palestinian people, ”he said.

‘Punitive demolition’

In a statement following the destruction of the house, the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem urged them not to “abandon unilateral steps that increase tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and reduce efforts to resolve a bilateral negotiated state”.

“This certainly includes the penalty for the demolition of Palestinian homes,” a spokesman said.

“As we have stated several times, the home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of an individual.”

U.S. criticism of Israel’s policy toward Palestine was very rare in Donald Trump’s presidency, as it embraced Israeli residences – which many countries considered illegal – in the West Bank. US President Joe Biden has sought to rebuild relations with the Palestinians.

Naftali Bennett, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office, said: “The prime minister appreciates and respects the US administration. At the same time, he agrees with the security concerns of the State of Israel and the protection of the lives of Israeli citizens.”