6 july 2018
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin pledged, on Wednesday, that the Gaza Strip will not be rebuilt so long as Hamas governs the besieged enclave.
“Israel was and has remained the only actor in the region that conveys basic staples for the welfare of the residents of Gaza,” the Times of Israel reported Rivlin saying at a ceremony in honour of Israeli soldiers killed during Israel’s 2014 assault on the Gaza Strip.
He also said, according to Days of Palestine: “As long as Hamas administers Gaza with an eye only to destroying the state of Israel and attacking its citizens, and continues to hold the bodies of our soldiers, Gaza will not be rehabilitated.”
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Hamas would pay an “unbearable price” if it did not choose to accept a truce with Israel.
Hamas was freely elected in the last general Palestinian elections held in 2006. Israel has since imposed a stifling blockade on the Gaza Strip limiting the entry of medicines, construction supplies and food.
“Israel was and has remained the only actor in the region that conveys basic staples for the welfare of the residents of Gaza,” the Times of Israel reported Rivlin saying at a ceremony in honour of Israeli soldiers killed during Israel’s 2014 assault on the Gaza Strip.
He also said, according to Days of Palestine: “As long as Hamas administers Gaza with an eye only to destroying the state of Israel and attacking its citizens, and continues to hold the bodies of our soldiers, Gaza will not be rehabilitated.”
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Hamas would pay an “unbearable price” if it did not choose to accept a truce with Israel.
Hamas was freely elected in the last general Palestinian elections held in 2006. Israel has since imposed a stifling blockade on the Gaza Strip limiting the entry of medicines, construction supplies and food.
2 july 2018
Israeli soldiers invaded, Monday, the al-Jawaya area, east of Yatta town, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and handed orders halting the construction of a home and a well.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the targeted property belongs to Issa Hasan Shawaheen, and is being built on his own land.
He added that the army issued, over the past few months, more than ten orders, including demolition warrants, targeting Palestinian homes and structures in that area alone.
The Israeli army said the Palestinian did not obtain permits from the Israeli Civil Administration Office, which runs the administrative aspect of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank.
Israel has been preventing the Palestinians from building, or expanding existing property, in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under full military and administrative control.
Area C is more than %60 of the West Bank and is also subject to the seriously-escalating construction and expansion of Israel’s illegal colonies, in direct violation of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the targeted property belongs to Issa Hasan Shawaheen, and is being built on his own land.
He added that the army issued, over the past few months, more than ten orders, including demolition warrants, targeting Palestinian homes and structures in that area alone.
The Israeli army said the Palestinian did not obtain permits from the Israeli Civil Administration Office, which runs the administrative aspect of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank.
Israel has been preventing the Palestinians from building, or expanding existing property, in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under full military and administrative control.
Area C is more than %60 of the West Bank and is also subject to the seriously-escalating construction and expansion of Israel’s illegal colonies, in direct violation of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
26 june 2018
Israeli soldiers demolished, Tuesday, a Palestinian home in Beit Hanina neighborhood, north of occupied East Jerusalem, while two families were forced to demolish their own homes, in Sur Baher and Silwan.
The soldiers invaded Beit Hanina neighborhood, after surrounding and isolating it, and demolished a home, under the pretext of being built without a permit.
The army prevented the Palestinians from entering the area and removed local journalists, before demolishing the property.
On Monday evening, resident Ibrahim Amira had to demolish his home in Sur Baher town, southeast of Jerusalem, to avoid fines exceeding 90.000 Shekels. video video
The Palestinian said he filed numerous requests to license his home, which he built, two years ago, on his own land to shelter himself, his wife and four children, but his requests were denied, and the City Council decided to demolish it just as he and his family moved in.
Amira filed various appeals with Israeli courts, including the Hight Court, but all of his applications were denied.
In Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, resident Wael Shweiki and his family had to demolish their two under-construction homes after the City Council issued demolition orders and threatened to impose excessively high fines and fees if its workers are the ones who demolish the property.
The family said it started the construction in early May of this year, and their applications for construction permits were denied. video
The soldiers invaded Beit Hanina neighborhood, after surrounding and isolating it, and demolished a home, under the pretext of being built without a permit.
The army prevented the Palestinians from entering the area and removed local journalists, before demolishing the property.
On Monday evening, resident Ibrahim Amira had to demolish his home in Sur Baher town, southeast of Jerusalem, to avoid fines exceeding 90.000 Shekels. video video
The Palestinian said he filed numerous requests to license his home, which he built, two years ago, on his own land to shelter himself, his wife and four children, but his requests were denied, and the City Council decided to demolish it just as he and his family moved in.
Amira filed various appeals with Israeli courts, including the Hight Court, but all of his applications were denied.
In Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, resident Wael Shweiki and his family had to demolish their two under-construction homes after the City Council issued demolition orders and threatened to impose excessively high fines and fees if its workers are the ones who demolish the property.
The family said it started the construction in early May of this year, and their applications for construction permits were denied. video
Israeli forces demolished Palestinian agricultural and commercial buildings in the Hizma neighborhood of Jerusalem, Monday morning.
Witnesses told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli forces, escorting staff from the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality, raided Hizma, surrounding agricultural and commercial buildings on the outskirts of the town. Sources added that Israeli forces razed the land to “prevent owners from rebuilding.”
Samer Salah al-Din, head of the Hizma local council, said that Israeli forces demolished agricultural structures, stone factories and a local shop, under the pretext that the structures were built without the extremely difficult-to-obtain Israeli building permits.
The demolished structures provide economic lifelines to twenty Palestinian families. Moreover, owners suffered massive losses that have been estimated at more than 1.5 million shekels.
Salah al-Din added that the Israeli municipality had sent demolition notices to five houses in the same neighborhood two weeks ago; the notices included that the houses were built 40-50 years ago but were allegedly built without permits.
According to a statement made by the owners of the commercial buildings in the area, “this is the fifth time that these buildings have been demolished, and every time they are rebuilt, Israeli forces unexpectedly demolish without warning. Rebuilding is a necessity since it is the only source of financial support.”
Roughly 90 percent of the total neighborhood area, was classified as Area C, where Israel retains full control over security and civil administration.
In Area C, the more than 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli security and civilian control, Palestinian construction and land management is prohibited unless through consent or authorization by the Israeli Civil Administration.
Nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits in Area C are denied by the Israeli authorities, forcing communities to build illegally.
Witnesses told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli forces, escorting staff from the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality, raided Hizma, surrounding agricultural and commercial buildings on the outskirts of the town. Sources added that Israeli forces razed the land to “prevent owners from rebuilding.”
Samer Salah al-Din, head of the Hizma local council, said that Israeli forces demolished agricultural structures, stone factories and a local shop, under the pretext that the structures were built without the extremely difficult-to-obtain Israeli building permits.
The demolished structures provide economic lifelines to twenty Palestinian families. Moreover, owners suffered massive losses that have been estimated at more than 1.5 million shekels.
Salah al-Din added that the Israeli municipality had sent demolition notices to five houses in the same neighborhood two weeks ago; the notices included that the houses were built 40-50 years ago but were allegedly built without permits.
According to a statement made by the owners of the commercial buildings in the area, “this is the fifth time that these buildings have been demolished, and every time they are rebuilt, Israeli forces unexpectedly demolish without warning. Rebuilding is a necessity since it is the only source of financial support.”
Roughly 90 percent of the total neighborhood area, was classified as Area C, where Israel retains full control over security and civil administration.
In Area C, the more than 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli security and civilian control, Palestinian construction and land management is prohibited unless through consent or authorization by the Israeli Civil Administration.
Nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits in Area C are denied by the Israeli authorities, forcing communities to build illegally.
24 june 2018
Israeli soldiers invaded, Sunday, Nahhalin town, west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and handed orders for halting the construction of three Palestinian homes.
Hani Fannoun, the deputy mayor of Nahhalin, said the army targeted the under-construction 80 square/meter home of Ali Abdul-Hafeth Shakarna, the 120 square/meter home of Yousef Abdul-Rahman Fannoun, and the 90 square/meter home of Bassel Hussein Shakarna.
The army said the three homes were built without a permit from the Civil Administration office, run by the army in the occupied West Bank.
Fannoun said Israel is escalating its violations against the Palestinians in the area, by constant invasions, abductions, destruction of property, in addition to orders forbidding the Palestinians from building on their own lands.
He added that the violations are part of Israel’s seriously increasing attempts to illegally confiscate Palestinian lands, in addition to the demolition of homes and property to build and expand its colonies, illegally built in direct violation of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Hani Fannoun, the deputy mayor of Nahhalin, said the army targeted the under-construction 80 square/meter home of Ali Abdul-Hafeth Shakarna, the 120 square/meter home of Yousef Abdul-Rahman Fannoun, and the 90 square/meter home of Bassel Hussein Shakarna.
The army said the three homes were built without a permit from the Civil Administration office, run by the army in the occupied West Bank.
Fannoun said Israel is escalating its violations against the Palestinians in the area, by constant invasions, abductions, destruction of property, in addition to orders forbidding the Palestinians from building on their own lands.
He added that the violations are part of Israel’s seriously increasing attempts to illegally confiscate Palestinian lands, in addition to the demolition of homes and property to build and expand its colonies, illegally built in direct violation of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
11 june 2018
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) ordered on Monday a halt on the construction of a Palestinian house in al-Khader town south of Bethlehem.
Anti-settlement activist Ahmad Salah told Quds Press that the so-called Civil Administration crews, accompanied by Israeli military vehicles, stormed al-Khader town and ordered the construction work in the house of the Palestinian citizen Majdy Issa to stop.
Salah said that the IOA issued another stop-work order against an agricultural facility in the town under the pretext of being built without an Israeli permit.
Al-Khader town is located in Area C, which is exclusively administered by Israel, and the Palestinian citizens are rarely allowed to build in that area.
The Israeli authorities regularly target the Palestinian houses in Area C, which covers 60% of the West Bank lands, with demolition in an attempt to tighten their control over the area and push the Palestinians living there to leave.
Anti-settlement activist Ahmad Salah told Quds Press that the so-called Civil Administration crews, accompanied by Israeli military vehicles, stormed al-Khader town and ordered the construction work in the house of the Palestinian citizen Majdy Issa to stop.
Salah said that the IOA issued another stop-work order against an agricultural facility in the town under the pretext of being built without an Israeli permit.
Al-Khader town is located in Area C, which is exclusively administered by Israel, and the Palestinian citizens are rarely allowed to build in that area.
The Israeli authorities regularly target the Palestinian houses in Area C, which covers 60% of the West Bank lands, with demolition in an attempt to tighten their control over the area and push the Palestinians living there to leave.
9 june 2018
Israeli forces demolish a home in Kobar village, August 16, 2018. Photo credit: Bahaa Nasr for WAFA.
POSTED BY: COREY SHERMAN JUNE 8, 2018
Even if Palestinians fulfill the appeal requirements put in place by military order 1797, Israeli authorities maintain complete authority to proceed with demolition.
Two Jerusalem legal aid organizations will petition the Israeli Supreme Court to overturn a new military order which makes it possible for Israeli forces to demolish Palestinian homes in Area C within 96 hours after delivering demolition orders.
The petition follows a formal letter the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC) and the St. Yves Society sent to the Israeli defense ministry on June 4, 2018 in which they argue that the military order “blatantly violates…international law and contravenes existing local legislation.”
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT) issued military order 1797 on April 17, 2018. COGAT, under the direct control of the Israeli defense ministry, runs civil affairs in the occupied West Bank. Order 1797 will go into effect on June 19, 2018.
Under the order, COGAT excuses itself from informing Palestinian homeowners directly that their homes are slated for demolition. JLAC and St. Yves explain in a joint press release that Israeli authorities only require demolition orders be placed “next to” relevant structures 96 hours before Israeli forces arrive to execute demolitions.
If a homeowner does catch wind of an impending demolition, he or she must present an approved master plan and building permit to appeal the demolition. Israel’s discriminatory housing policies in the West Bank ensure that this is an almost impossible requirement for the 300,000 Palestinians living in Area C, 60 percent of the West Bank, to fulfill.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between 2010 and 2014, for example, Israel approved 1.5 percent of building applications in Area C. Israeli authorities, however, routinely approve of settlement master plans and even halt demolitions of settler outposts citing the existence of master plans, JLAC and St. Yves point out. Indeed, since 2017 Israeli officials have approved nearly 14,000 settlement units in the West Bank.
In addition to having to produce an approved master building plan within four days, Palestinian residents of Area C attempting to forestall demolition must prove that construction on their home or home addition has been completed for six months or that the structure has been inhabited for thirty days.
By requiring that Palestinians produce so many documents in such a short period of time, this military order “virtually strips the affected residents of the right to due process and the capacity to challenge the demolition orders through legal avenues, by requiring that objections to the demolition order be accompanied with a valid building permit,” JLAC and St. Yves wrote in their press release. Moreover, COGAT remains the sole arbiter of these appeals. Put differently, even if Palestinians fulfill the appeal requirements put in place by military order 1797, COGAT empowers itself to proceed with demolition anyway.
St. Yves and JLAC emphasize that this new military order violates international law, including Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which defines forcible transfer of occupied populations as a crime against humanity. The order also violates Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, which requires that an occupying power respect the laws in the country that it occupies. In this case, that means the Jordanian Planning and Construction Law, which allows residents to retroactively legalize home constructions in the face of a demolition order stemming from illegal construction.
One area that may be acutely impacted by this new military order is the E1 corridor, which sits between the Jerusalem municipality’s borders and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. For years, Israeli politicians have proposed incorporating this area, which is in Area C, into the Jerusalem municipality.
Such developments are key to maintaining what Israel euphemistically calls a “demographic balance” in Jerusalem, i.e. restricting the Palestinian population to 30 percent of the city’s total population. Palestinian presence in Jerusalem today likely constitutes at least 40 percent of the city’s population.
The Palestinian Authority condemned military order 1797 when it was first announced. “This illegal development would generate more crimes against Palestinian rights of access to a safe and stable living environment and would worsen the already dire conditions of 393,000 Palestinian citizens,” the government said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Corey Sherman is a teacher in Washington D.C. and a contributing editor to aicnews.org.
POSTED BY: COREY SHERMAN JUNE 8, 2018
Even if Palestinians fulfill the appeal requirements put in place by military order 1797, Israeli authorities maintain complete authority to proceed with demolition.
Two Jerusalem legal aid organizations will petition the Israeli Supreme Court to overturn a new military order which makes it possible for Israeli forces to demolish Palestinian homes in Area C within 96 hours after delivering demolition orders.
The petition follows a formal letter the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC) and the St. Yves Society sent to the Israeli defense ministry on June 4, 2018 in which they argue that the military order “blatantly violates…international law and contravenes existing local legislation.”
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT) issued military order 1797 on April 17, 2018. COGAT, under the direct control of the Israeli defense ministry, runs civil affairs in the occupied West Bank. Order 1797 will go into effect on June 19, 2018.
Under the order, COGAT excuses itself from informing Palestinian homeowners directly that their homes are slated for demolition. JLAC and St. Yves explain in a joint press release that Israeli authorities only require demolition orders be placed “next to” relevant structures 96 hours before Israeli forces arrive to execute demolitions.
If a homeowner does catch wind of an impending demolition, he or she must present an approved master plan and building permit to appeal the demolition. Israel’s discriminatory housing policies in the West Bank ensure that this is an almost impossible requirement for the 300,000 Palestinians living in Area C, 60 percent of the West Bank, to fulfill.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between 2010 and 2014, for example, Israel approved 1.5 percent of building applications in Area C. Israeli authorities, however, routinely approve of settlement master plans and even halt demolitions of settler outposts citing the existence of master plans, JLAC and St. Yves point out. Indeed, since 2017 Israeli officials have approved nearly 14,000 settlement units in the West Bank.
In addition to having to produce an approved master building plan within four days, Palestinian residents of Area C attempting to forestall demolition must prove that construction on their home or home addition has been completed for six months or that the structure has been inhabited for thirty days.
By requiring that Palestinians produce so many documents in such a short period of time, this military order “virtually strips the affected residents of the right to due process and the capacity to challenge the demolition orders through legal avenues, by requiring that objections to the demolition order be accompanied with a valid building permit,” JLAC and St. Yves wrote in their press release. Moreover, COGAT remains the sole arbiter of these appeals. Put differently, even if Palestinians fulfill the appeal requirements put in place by military order 1797, COGAT empowers itself to proceed with demolition anyway.
St. Yves and JLAC emphasize that this new military order violates international law, including Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which defines forcible transfer of occupied populations as a crime against humanity. The order also violates Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, which requires that an occupying power respect the laws in the country that it occupies. In this case, that means the Jordanian Planning and Construction Law, which allows residents to retroactively legalize home constructions in the face of a demolition order stemming from illegal construction.
One area that may be acutely impacted by this new military order is the E1 corridor, which sits between the Jerusalem municipality’s borders and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. For years, Israeli politicians have proposed incorporating this area, which is in Area C, into the Jerusalem municipality.
Such developments are key to maintaining what Israel euphemistically calls a “demographic balance” in Jerusalem, i.e. restricting the Palestinian population to 30 percent of the city’s total population. Palestinian presence in Jerusalem today likely constitutes at least 40 percent of the city’s population.
The Palestinian Authority condemned military order 1797 when it was first announced. “This illegal development would generate more crimes against Palestinian rights of access to a safe and stable living environment and would worsen the already dire conditions of 393,000 Palestinian citizens,” the government said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Corey Sherman is a teacher in Washington D.C. and a contributing editor to aicnews.org.
2 june 2018
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ordered on Saturday a halt on the construction of a school in the village of Mreiha, near Ya’bad town to the south of Jenin, in northern West Bank, local sources said.
Local sources told PIC reporter that Israeli forces confiscated the working equipment from the site and ordered the construction to stop, for allegedly being built without an Israeli construction permit.
Ya’bad Municipal Council strongly condemned the Israeli order and vowed to continue the construction of the school despite of the Israeli order, the sources added.
Local sources told PIC reporter that Israeli forces confiscated the working equipment from the site and ordered the construction to stop, for allegedly being built without an Israeli construction permit.
Ya’bad Municipal Council strongly condemned the Israeli order and vowed to continue the construction of the school despite of the Israeli order, the sources added.
9 may 2018
Israeli soldiers prevented, Wednesday, a Palestinian farmer from Nahhalin village, west of Bethlehem, from building a wall around his lands in the an-Nossiyya area, north of the town.
Hani Fannoun, the deputy-mayor of Nahhalin Local Council, said the soldiers verbally informed Mahmoud Abdul-Jalil Zakarna, that the army will not allow him to build the wall around his land.
Fannoun added that the army has recently confiscated many agricultural vehicles and equipment from the same area, and prevented the Palestinians from hooking their lands with irrigation pipes.
He further stated that the military has been preventing the Palestinians from building, in addition to developing and planting their lands around the town, without court orders or warnings.
Hani Fannoun, the deputy-mayor of Nahhalin Local Council, said the soldiers verbally informed Mahmoud Abdul-Jalil Zakarna, that the army will not allow him to build the wall around his land.
Fannoun added that the army has recently confiscated many agricultural vehicles and equipment from the same area, and prevented the Palestinians from hooking their lands with irrigation pipes.
He further stated that the military has been preventing the Palestinians from building, in addition to developing and planting their lands around the town, without court orders or warnings.
