Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to fast track the demolition of family homes of alleged attackers, following the recent upheaval in the occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel that has seen seven Israelis and more than 35 Palestinians killed. Netanyahu's call has been criticized as an illegal form of collective punishment due to its displacement of Palestinians who have not committed crimes. The PM's orders to carry out punitive home demolitions had led rights groups to repeatedly call on the Israeli government to end the ongoing and daily pressure of the Israeli occupation rather than carry out collective punishment across the occupied area. The measures come amid efforts imposed by Israeli authorities to stop the current escalation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. While many of the most recent demolition orders have been issued in the Ramallah and Hebron districts in Area A of the occupied West Bank - under full control of the Palestinian Authority - Israel regularly enters the area in violation of international law and the PA does not intervene in such orders. Families can generally file objections to punitive demolition orders and appeal to Israel's high court, like al-Hashlmound, but Human Rights Watch reported last year that in such appeals, "Israel's High Court of Justice has refused to apply the absolute prohibition in customary international law against the collective punishment of civilians."
