Violation: Halt of work notice.

Location: Al-Mattar area- Jericho city.

Date: July 3^rd 2022.

Perpetrators: The Israeli Civil Administration.

Victims: 3 families living at the village.

Description:

The Israeli Occupation authorities targeted the eastern side of Jericho city known as Al-Mattar area nearby bypass 90  , with halt of work notices that targeted 40 houses.

The building inspector raided the area again in Sunday July 3^rd, wrote the notices , hung them on the targeted structures then withdrew , the notices were issued on the pretext of building without a license in area C.

According to the served notices , the occupation sat August 3^rd 2022 as the date of the building and organization department in Beit El military court to decide the fate of the structures.

The responsible on colonization file in Jericho governorate Mohammed Ghrouf , and municipal council member in Jericho told LRC the following:

“ This is an organized colonial plan , the Mattar area is a significant site to expand the municipality borders , colonists tried to take over it over and over but in vain , and now the occupation authorities are launching a massive campaign to take over the area and give it to colonists.”

The following table shows more information about the targeted structures:

This year, the occupation escalated assaults against houses and facilities in Jericho . As reported by LRC field workers , the Israeli government officers handed more than 73 military notices to a number of Palestinian families in citizen and villages in Jericho. The notices targeted 172 houses and facilities and demolished a large number of them , during last august , 11 houses were demolished in Ad-Duyuk At Tihta.

Al-Mattar area east Jericho is heavily targeted by the Israeli Occupation , during the past few years , about 7 houses were demolished at the location , and a small irrigation pool was destroyed at the location under the pretext of building in area C without a license, and about 280 dunums of the town’s lands are classified as state properties.

Legal Commentary:[1]

The demolition of Palestinian structures 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 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.

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.

[1] GIS-LRC