Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition to overturn a demolition order on the house of Ziad Awwad, who Israel says was responsible for the killing of an Israeli policeman in April.

Israeli rights group HaMoked had petitioned the Israeli court to overturn the order after Israel announced its intention to destroy the property on June 26.

The demolition order was slated for Monday but will now not be carried out until 12 hours after the supreme court ruling.

Israel’s military initially intended to demolish the entire two-story building, but HaMoked proved that the building was owned by his brother and will only likely destroy the western half.

“According to the principles of human rights, to which HaMoked is committed, house demolitions constitute collective punishment, and are contrary to both international law and the basic precept of Israeli law that a person must not be punished for the acts of others,” the group said.

Israeli forces arrested Ziad Awad, 42, on May 7 for suspected involvement in the shooting of Israeli police officer Baruch Mizrahi near Hebron on April 14.

According to B’Tselem, 13 people, including eight children, currently live in the property slated for demolition.

(Ma’an – www.maannews)