Israel demolishes Palestinian homes (Reuters)
In an unusual move, the Israeli Embassy in the United States issued a rare public rebuke to the State Department office that handles Palestinian affairs after it criticized Israel’s demolition of a Palestinian home in Jerusalem.
A rebuke and a response!
The US Office of Palestinian Affairs posted a tweet on the X site saying that the Israeli government demolished the home of a Palestinian family in response to the actions of their 13-year-old son.
He added that an entire family should not lose their home due to the actions of one individual.
The Israeli embassy yesterday, Friday, responded sarcastically that “the context of the story is important,” pointing out that the 13-year-old “terrorist” killed an Israeli citizen by stabbing him to death, it said.
Neither side mentioned the teenager’s name, but Israeli media identified him as Muhammad Al-Zalbani, who they said stabbed an Israeli border policeman to death while he was searching a bus in East Jerusalem last February, according to the Times of Israel.
Many social media users have commented on this controversy, believing that from Israel’s point of view, criticism is prohibited. While others defended the Israeli position.
Interestingly, Israeli forces demolished the house last Wednesday, in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, under the protection of a large police force.
Israel has defended its internationally condemned policy of destroying the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks on its citizens, a practice widely condemned by human rights groups as collective punishment.
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