In yet another act of collective punishment against the Palestinian people, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Wednesday morning detonated the family home of Palestinian martyr Abdu-Qader al-Qawasmi in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) for the second time in less than five months.

According to local sources, large numbers of heavily armed Israeli soldiers stormed several neighborhoods of the city under the cover of dawn, terrorizing residents and surrounding the al-Qawasmi family home before rigging it with explosives and reducing it to rubble once again. The home was first demolished by the IOF on January 21, 2024, following the martyrdom of Abdu-Qader al-Qawasmi, who was killed by Israeli forces on November 16, 2023.

Residents of the neighborhood reported that the IOF detained a number of local civilians, subjecting them to interrogation and harassment, while also establishing a military checkpoint at the northern entrance to al-Khalil, further restricting movement and exacerbating the daily hardships Palestinians endure under occupation.

The repeated demolition of the al-Qawasmi family home underscores Israel's ongoing policy of collective punishment, a violation of international law, which seeks to exact revenge on the families of Palestinian resistance fighters even after their martyrdom. Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned such actions as war crimes, stressing the psychological and material toll they inflict on innocent civilians.

This latest attack on al-Khalil comes amid escalating violence across the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces continue to carry out nightly raids, detentions, and home demolitions — part of a broader campaign to intimidate and subdue a population living under decades of military occupation.

The steadfastness of the al-Qawasmi family and the people of al-Khalil remains unshaken despite these brutal tactics. Local residents condemned the renewed demolition, vowing that the memory and sacrifice of their martyr will not be erased by Israeli explosives. (ILKHA)