A/HRC/31/40 27. The United Nations country team and the International Committee of the Red Cross raised concerns about excessive force and access to medical care after disruption of medical services following an Israeli security forces raid on Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem on 29 October.19 The Palestine Red Crescent Society has also reported large numbers of Israeli security forces assaults on its staff and ambulances. 20 Some of these incidents have been documented on video.21 28. The Government of Israel has an obligation to respect and protect the right to life and integrity of the person, and to act in accordance with relevant international standards. Concerns of the excessive use of force by Israeli security forces resulting in the deaths and injuries of Palestinians during the reporting period build on similar concerns raised over many years (see A/HRC/28/80/Add.1, para. 12). Accountability in such cases is very rare. Without rigorous regulation and effective accountability, the actions of the Israeli security forces are likely to continue to cause unlawful deaths and injuries. 2. Collective punishment, including punitive demolitions and closures 29. Punitive demolitions, targeting the family homes of alleged perpetrators of attacks on Israelis, resumed in mid-2014 (see A/HRC/28/80/Add.1, para. 8) and continued during the reporting period. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, six punitive demolitions (including “sealing” houses to render them uninhabitable) were carried out in this period, displacing 46 Palestinians, of whom 26 were children. 30. OHCHR monitored the punitive demolition of the family home of Uday abu Jamal, in East Jerusalem. Mr. Abu-Jamal and his cousin were killed when they attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue in November 2014, killing six Israelis. His parents and four siblings were evicted from their family home by Israeli security forces on 1 July 2015. All entrypoints to the house were welded shut and concrete was poured inside, virtually up to the ceiling in most rooms, rendering the house uninhabitable. The family subsequently lived in the backyard, in a tent donated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which the Israeli security forces confiscated on 7 July. 31. By their very nature, the demolitions of family homes punish the relatives of attackers and alleged attackers, and therefore constitute a form of prohibited collective penalty.22 The proposal by the Israeli Security Cabinet to revoke the residency rights of family members of alleged attackers raises similar concerns. 23 32. Furthermore, some punitive demolitions have caused collateral damage to houses and property of neighbours, raising further concerns about the destruction of private property and the right to adequate housing. 33. Punitive demolitions also violate the general prohibition of destruction of private property contained in the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 53) and, in certain circumstances, may 19 20 21 22 23 See www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52442#.VlwYv3YrKM8 and http://blogs.icrc.org/ilot/2015/10/30/access-to-healthcare-is-non-negotiable/. See www.palestinercs.org/en/details.php?nid=1080. See http://972mag.com/photos-israeli-border-police-assault-pepper-spray-palestinianjournalists/113402/. Article 33 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention) and Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck (eds), Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1: Rules, Cambride University Press, Cambridge, 2005 (ICRC Customary Law Study), rules 102-103. “PM to forward bill allowing state to revoke residency of terrorists”, Times of Israel, 22 November 2014. 7