Israeli actions to seal the family of homes of two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank constitute the war crime of collective punishment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
The two Palestinians are suspected by Israel of attacks against its citizens.
21-year-old Khayri Alqam killed seven Jewish settlers in the illegal settlement of Neve Yaakov in occupied East Jerusalem last week, one day after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in Jenin. Israeli forces killed him and Israeli authorities are now planning to demolish his home.
A Palestinian teenager on Saturday shot and seriously injured two Israelis in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. He was shot and wounded and taken to the hospital.
The teenager’s lawyer told HRW that Israeli authorities have arrested his parents and brother.
BREAKING: Two Israelis Wounded in New Attack in Occupied East Jerusalem
The country’s cabinet agreed to seal the family’s home. Israeli rights group HaMoked said Israeli forces have taken control of their house.
“International humanitarian law, including the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibits collective punishment, including deliberately harming the relatives of those accused of committing crimes, in all circumstances,” HRW said.
It added that courts around the world have considered collective punishment a war crime.
(The New Arab, PC, SOCIAL)
