Violation: demolishing and confiscating structures 

Location: Humsa al-Fauqa hamlet

Date:  February 01, 2021

Perpetrators: Planning and Construction Committee- Israel Civil Administration

Victims: 11 Palestinian families

Details:

It is reported that a force from the Israeli Occupation Army backed by dozers and trucks raided the hamlet, demolished residential and livestock tents, and confiscated other tents that were donated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and ACTED aid organization on the claim that the area is classified as “military closed zone”.

The Head of Israeli Coordination Office requested the affected Palestinians (75 citizens) to get relocated to a nearby area, but the residents fully refused and remained in their places.

The Israeli officer also threatened the residents of the area that he will come back again and expel them out of their homes and relocate them to an area that is classified as “State Land” as he claimed. Noteworthy, the claimed lands are, as a matter of fact, Palestinian properties that were confiscated by the occupation previously.

The following table details information about the affected Palestinians and their properties;

 the damage following the confiscation operation:

 part of the demolition operation

In a similar incident, the Israeli Occupation Authorities demolished on November 03, 2020 demolished the entire hamlet with the properties of eleven families. For more information, please read the following link.

Legal Commentary:

The demolition of Palestinian homes and installations by the occupation authorities is part of their violations of international and humanitarian law, and the violation of the right to adequate housing for Palestinian citizens guaranteed by international law and international treaties presented by the following articles:

• Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that “Destruction and usurpation of property in a manner not justified by military necessity and on a large scale in an unlawful and arbitrary manner is a grave breach of the convention.
• Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1948 prohibits the destruction of property, as this article states the following: “The occupying power is prohibited from destroying any private, fixed or movable property related to individuals or groups, the state or public authorities, or social or cooperative organizations, unless the war operations inevitably require this destruction.
• Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.
• Paragraph ‘g’ of Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 AD also warned against destroying or seizing the enemy’s property, unless the necessities of war necessarily require such destruction or seizure.
• Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, dated December 10, 1948 states that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”.