Land Research Center

Tuesday , 3 September 2019, The Israeli occupation authorities demolished an under construction house located in At-Tur town, on the pretext of building without licenses , the targeted house belongs to Mohammad Abu Al-Hawa.

Affected citizen “Mohammad Abu Al-Hawa” told LRC reporter:

“I started building a house for my family close to the main street that leads to Makassed Hospital , it consists of one floor (90 m²). During the construction process, municipality members showed up and served a demolition order , on the pretext of building without getting licenses form the occupation, this was 15 days before the demolition.

Tuesday, 3 September , the Israeli occupation forces raided the village with a bulldozer , and completely demolished the structure, the demolition operation took two hours , then the occupation troops withdrew leaving a homeless family and leaving a vast destruction.”

The occupation authorities pursuit any new structures built by Palestinians, and rapidly issue a demolition order and high fines that reach hundred thousands of Shekels, the occupation authorities claim that such measurements are taken when a structure lacks licenses but in reality , the only object is to end up Jerusalemites expansion in their city , and keep Jerusalem a reserve for colonial expansion and activities . On the other hand, they impose unrealistic and incredibly expencive conditions to get a building license in the city, which pushes Jerusalemites to build unlicensed houses or facilities.

At-Tur village:[1]

At-Tur is one of Jerusalem’s oldest villages, it is located about 3 km to the east of Jerusalem city , At-Tur is bordered by As-Suwana and Al-Isawiya (north) , Jerusalem city – the old city (west), Az-Zayyem (east) and (Ash-Shayah) south , At-Tur has a population of 35,000 people (2017) .

At-Tur village has a total area of 9,200 dunums , of which (911) dunums are a built up area.

Legal feedback:

International Conventions and agreements pertaining to house and residents demolition:

• Article 147 of Geneva fourth convention  : extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. ( it is considered a serious violation of the convention)

• Article 53 of Geneva fourth convention that forbids destroying properties : Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

• Article 33 of Geneva fourth convention: No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.

• Article 32 of Hague convention 1907 part g: To destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.

• Article 17 of Universal declaration of human rights 10 –Dec- 1948:  No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

[1] GIS-LRC