Land Research Center

The bulldozers of Israel occupation municipality demolished on March 29, 2017  two houses in the neighborhood of Al-Sal'a in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabir south of Jerusalem under the pretext of building without a permit.

It was reported that  the occupation forces along with municipality employees and bulldozers raided the area of " Al-Sal'a" in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabir and surrounded two houses owned by Islam Abbasi and his brother Imam. They emptied some of the houses' contents before demolishing them under the pretext of " unlicensed construction".

Abbasi said the family of his son Islam consists of 8 individuals (6 children) while the family of Imam consists of 6 individuals (4 children).

It should be noted  that the two houses were built in 2013 and have an area of 160 m². Right after the houses were built, the occupation municipality arrived at the location, photographed the targeted residences and delivered demolition orders for their owners.

As a result, the family  hired an attorney to freeze the demolition order and worked to obtain a building permit but to no avail.

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