Israel to punish parents who tried to stop son’s attack

Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli forces demolished a home belonging to the family of a Palestinian assailant in the West Bank village of Yatta, south of Hebron, 4 August 2016.Wisam HashlamounAPA images)

Maureen Clare Murphy-17 September 2018

Israeli forces raided a home belonging to the family of a Palestinian teen after he stabbed 
and fatally injured a man in a settlement on Sunday afternoon.

Occupation forces mapped the house in Yatta, near the West Bank city of Hebron, overnight
Monday in preparation for its demolition. The military published a video of its soldiers doing
 so:

Since late 2015 Israel has accelerated the demolitions of the family residences of Palestinians
 alleged to have attacked Israelis, a form of collective punishment Israel never applies to
 Jewish perpetrators.

Such collective punishment measures violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and other
 international laws and thus are war crimes.

West Bank stabbing

The stabbing that killed Ari Fuld, 45, took place at a shopping center in a nearby settlement. The assailant, identified as Khalil Jabarin, 16, was shot several times and is currently being treated at an Israeli hospital, where he is shackled to the bed.

Fuld is the ninth Israeli killed by Palestinians so far this year. Nearly 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or armed civilians during the same period.

Security camera footage of the incident was broadcast by Israeli media:

The video shows Jabarin approaching Fuld and stabbing him in the back. Fuld fired at Jabarin before falling to the ground, according to the Israeli media report. Two more men fired at Jabarin, who was reportedly hit by five live bullets.

Jabarin’s parents had attempted to stop their son when he told them of his intentions to carry out an attack near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron.

That site in Hebron, where Israel expands its settlements in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods, has been the location of several such deadly incidents since late 2015.

Parents tried to stop attack

The parents informed Palestinian Authority security forces of their son’s plans and his mother warned Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

“The army confirmed her account, but said that she came to the checkpoint several minutes before the attack took place and say that her son carried out the attack while she was there,” according to Haaretz.

Fuld, the slain man, was identified as an American citizen who had immigrated to Israel and lived in the Efrat settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli media described him as a member of the right-wing, religious Habayit Hayehudi party which advocates the annexation of most of the occupied West Bank and whose leaders habitually incite and glorify the killing of Palestinians and other Arabs.

He frequently appeared on Israeli media and was very active on social media promoting pro-Israel messaging.

Collective punishment

Israel destroyed homes belonging to the family members of two cousins from Yatta who killed four Israelis in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv in June 2016.

Occupation forces also canceled work and travel permits and closed entrances to the village, among other collective punishments imposed on Yatta following that attack.

Israel has destroyed three housing units in reprisal demolitions so far this year, displacing 21 Palestinians, including seven children.

Seven homes were destroyed in revenge demolitions last year, and 30 were destroyed, sealed or otherwise rendered uninhabitable in 2016.