Violation: Demolition of four shops.

Location: Al-Mhalel area - West Deir Qadds / Ramallah Governorate.

Date: October 26^th 2021.

Perpetrators: The building inspector at the Israeli Civil Administration.

Victims: Citizen Ayman Staih.

 Description:

Tuesday, October 26^th 2021, the Israeli Occupation bulldozers demolished four under construction shops in Al-Mhalel area west Deir Qaddis , on a total area of 280 m² belong to citizen Ayman Staih.

Affected Citizen Received a notice in June 22^nd 2021, numbered (21325) entitled “Removal of a new building” , the notice was issued in reference to military order (1797) which targets Palestinian Structures in C area according to Oslo Accords , despite preparing a legal file , the occupation did not do anything to save the property. For more information read LRC report here.

The Israeli Occupation heavily targets The Palestinian Right to land and housing, and bans Palestinian Construction in area C.

Affected Citizen Ayman ‘Adnan told LRC the following:

“At the beginning of this year, I started constructing he shops to provide a source of income for my family of 8 (6 children, 2 females). I prepared the legal file to protect my properties, but the occupation demolished the four shops without any preceding notices, the financial loss amounted to more than 125 thousand shekels”.

During the past few months, The Occupation forces targeted number of facilities and Structures in Al-Mhalel which affected the economy of the area. About 36 Industrial, commercial and agricultural structures were completely demolished. And During the past two months, 15 structures received halt of work and demolition orders, this alarms of a catastrophe that ffectstens of families in Deir Qaddis , who lost their sources of income . For more information read LRC reports here.

The shops before the demolition

The Shops after the demolition

Legal Commentary:

Demolition of Palestinian structures by the occupation authorities is a  violation of international and humanitarian law presented by the following articles:

Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, dated December 10, 1948 states that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”.

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.