A letter signed by 64 members of the US Congress on Tuesday addressed to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, urged the Trump administration to oppose Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, and to reject further US funding, Palestine News Network reported.
The letter stated, “We are writing with concern about the continued demolition of homes and the forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank,” the letter continued, “the United States must act to prevent unlawful home demolitions, the forcible transfer of Palestinians.”
In related news, Tareq Mohammad Ali and his family were forced to demolish their own home in Jerusalem at the order of the Israeli High Court, under the pretext it was built without an Israeli permit.
It is also important to note that in February, more than 100 Democrats in the US House of Representatives signed a letter rejecting Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
Forced displacement is forbidden under the Rome Statute, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is a war crime, under international humanitarian law (IHL).
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- Rule 129.
A. Parties to an international armed conflict may not deport or forcibly transfer the civilian population of an occupied territory, in whole or in part, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand.
B. Parties to a non-international armed conflict may not order the displacement of the civilian population, in whole or in part, for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand.
~ Palestine News Network
Image: PNN
