‘Collective punishment’: Family home of suspect demolished in West Bank

The Sanoubar family claims that Israeli soldiers only gave them two minutes to leave their homes in Nablus, West Bank, during the occupation. The extended family’s apartment building was then destroyed.

As huge clouds of dust and smoke erupted from the building’s floors on Tuesday, the area was shaken by the explosion in Nablus.

They “took this to frighten us,” they claimed.

Sanoubar, a well-known prisoner detained in July of this year, is infamous among Israeli authorities for avoiding capture for five months after being charged with conspiring to carry out bus bombings in Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, in February.

Because the explosives went off while the buses were parked, neither person was hurt nor killed in the incident.

After two days of manhunts in Nablus, when Israeli forces stormed homes and residential areas close to Sanoubar’s family home, they were eventually apprehended.

Sanoubar’s uncle, Moayed, referred to Israel’s destruction of a building as an “act of terrorism” against his family when the people inside alleged no crimes.

He told Al Jazeera, “We’re not the terrorists, they’re”. This is “absolutely unjust.”

Amer, 61, Sanoubar’s father, claimed that the destruction of his home was the most recent instance of “collective punishment” for his family due to his son’s alleged crimes.

He claimed that they did this to frighten us. They want to ensure that no young Palestinian will ever consider carrying a single bullet.

He made a huge gesture, his lifelong home now strewn in a gaping hole looking out over West Nablus, surrounded by the dusty ruins of his.

It is intended as a deterrent to Palestinians as a whole.

The family informed Al Jazeera that the Israeli army had learned that their now-demolished home had also been seize, making it impossible for them to go back to it or repair the skeleton that is still standing.

The home had been destroyed as part of the Israeli army’s “Operation Five Stones,” which it launched in late November as a “counterterrorism operation,” the army claimed.

Abdul Karim’s father, Amer Sanoubar, claims that he has been detained three times since his son has been detained [Al Jazeera] right.

Collective punishment

Human rights organizations have criticized Israel’s punitive destruction of homes in the occupied West Bank as a form of collective punishment and as against international law.

Since their younger brother was detained, Ahmad and Omar, respectively, Sanoubar’s brothers, have also been imprisoned.

In accordance with Israel’s administrative detention system, which allows for an indefinite sentence without a trial, all three siblings are being detained.

Since Sanoubar was accused of the bombing, Amer, the father, has been detained three times, along with Sanoubar’s sister and mother.

Furniture and other items that Israeli soldiers have taken over the family’s apartments have been destroyed.

Amer claimed that the harsh measures were intended to coerce his son into giving himself while he was on the run.

In April, the family was given a demolition order, but the Israeli courts rejected the family’s objection. The family was given just 72 hours to file an objection.

The family claims that since then, the house has been glued to a tent and has been awaiting the sounds of military vehicles.

The destruction wrought by the explosion inside our apartment complex is unfathomable, Mer continued.

The family of Sanoubar’s displaced family is now residing with various family members in Nablus and the surrounding area.

Other nearby families who had to be evacuated for the demolition have returned to their homes, many of which had broken windows or other external damage to repair.

The walls of Sanoubar’s top-floor bedroom had the words “We fight so we can live” emblazoned on the wall and visible from the roof.