Land Research Center

Dozers of the Israeli occupation municipality demolished on July 04, 2017 a residence in Beit Hanina town on the claim of "unlicensed construction".

It should be marked that Israel Police accompanied by a dozer arrived in the location, imposed closure and brought down the house of citizen Ahmad Subeih; the head of eight member family including three children.

Citizen Ahmad  told Land Research Center the following:

"  The house was constructed in 2000. First floor(118m²)  is composed of three bedrooms, hall, kitchen and bathroom, where the second (80m²) is built by bricks and wood.

He also added:

I didn’t apply to obtain a building permit from Israel Municipality because I know that they never grant it for Palestinians in such areas. And since I desperately need a place to shelter my family, I initiated construction and I didn’t receive any notice from the municipality.

On July 04, 2017, Israel police and a military dozer arrived in the location and demolished the place after employees from the municipality took some of the interior out."

Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with all the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:

Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”

Section ‹G› of article 23 of the (1907) The Hague Conventions asserting: “In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”

Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention (1948) declaring: “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 cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”

Section 1, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966): “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.

This case study is part of Kan'aan Project