Land Research Center

Violation: Demolition orders for houses and a workshop.

Location: Mhalel – Ni’lin town / Ramallah Governorate.

Date: May 31^st 2021.

Perpetrator: The Israeli Occupation Civil Administration and army.

Victims: Three families from the area.

Description:

May 31^st 2021, The Israeli Occupation forces raided Al-Mhalel area southeast Ni’lin town and served demolition notices for two houses under Security claims, considering that the houses are built on a plot included in a Military Order.

The notices were entitled “Notice of demolition” , and gave the owners only 7 days to object, the owners did not receive and previous demolition orders.

Noteworthy, the owners of the houses hold construction licenses issued by Ni’lin municipality in 2019. The targeted houses are built in B area according to Oslo accords.

The targeted houses belong to:

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One of the affected, Muaz Sorour : “I started building the house two years ago, on a plot at Al-Mhalel area for my family of 6 . This is the only plot I own and where it is possible to build, and it is included in area  classified B according to Oslo accords. Last May, I was shocked when I saw a military order hanged on the door front, under security claims (because the house is built close to the Annexation and Expansion Wall.”

Only few meters from the targeted houses, Kiryat Sefer colony is in constant growth, which reflects the occupation’s arbitrary policies against Palestinians and in favor to illegal colonization.

A Final Demolition order:

The building inspector at the Israeli Civil Administration reached Al-Mhalel area, and targeted a car repairing workshop (90 m²) built of steel sheets and belong to citizen Ibrhaim Qatoussa from Deir Qaddis village, the targeted workshop provides a source of income for a family of 9..

Demolition order 31979 which targets the workshop structure

the targeted structure

The Occupation authorities ordered demolishing the structures, and threatened in case the owner did not carry out the demolition, the occupation forces will implement it and make him pay all the costs.

 The workshop was targeted before in April 5^th 2021 with a halt of work notice on the pretext of building without a license, the military order was numbered (31148) , and the workshop is at Al-Mhalel area.

The Occupation Authorities targeted an under-construction house that belongs to Ibrahim Qatoussa, and located only 90 m away from the workshop, the house is built of one floor with a total area of 200 m², the Occupation also confiscated a Baton mixer (Volvo) on the pretext that the house received halt of work notice (31126).).

Notice number 31126

Photos of the targeted house

During the past few years, the occupation demolished more than 44 workshops, and notified many others which warns a humanitarian crisis that may reach to tens of families in Ni’lin.

About Ni’lin:[1]

20 km to the northwest of Ramallah, Ni’lin is edged by the towns of Qibya and Budrus from the north, Al-Midyah town from the southwest, Deir Qidees town from the east and Mod’in and Kiryat Sefer colonies from the south.

Ni’lin is inhabited by 5897 people on a total land area of 15,206 dunums , of which 748 dunums are the village’s built-up area.

The occupation confiscated a total of 3020 dunums for colonial ends, which are detailed as follows:

• Hashmona’im colony: it was established in 1985 on confiscated area of 858 dunums from the village. It is now inhabited by 2097 colonists.
• Kiryat Sefer: it was established in 1991 on confiscated area of 476 dunums from the village. It is now inhabited by 24,290 colonists.
• Mattityahu colony: it was established in 1980 on confiscated area of 657 dunums from the village. It is now inhabited by 1365 colonists.

Colonial bypass road number 446 confiscated 408 dunums

The apartheid wall confiscated 621 dunums for the favor of its construction and isolated 14,083 behind it.

According to Oslo Accords lands classifications, Ni’lin lands are classified as follows:

• 1,123 dunums are classified as area “B”
• 14,083 dunums are classified as area “C”

[1] GIS-LRC

This Report Was Prepared as Part of Secure Palestinian Lands and Housing Rights project activities

The Contents of This Document are the responsibility of LRC and do Not Reflect positions of the European Union