Land Research Center

Violation : Notice to Evict an agricultural lands.

Date  : January, 22^th , 2025.

Location : Al- Jumjuma , Wadi Al- Shinnar – Halhul town / North of Hebron .

Perpetrator: The so-called Israeli Civil Administration.

Affected Party :  Farmers from Halhul Town.

Details :

On January 22, 2025, the Israeli occupation authorities issued several written notices instructing farmers to evacuate their lands in Halhul, a town located to the north of Hebron in the southern West Bank. The farmers discovered the notices left on their agricultural properties in the areas of Al-Jumjuma and Wadi Al-Shinnar, to the northeast of the town. The notices were accompanied by aerial photographs indicating the specific plots of land designated for evacuation.

The notices were issued by (The Israeli Occupation Army – Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria responsible for Government and property abandon ) in occupation authority , and under  titled “ evacuation notice ‘’.

The occupation authorities demanded in their notification of evacuating lands, ( returning them to their previous status and uprooting trees , removing stones, fences and agricultural building within a period of 45 days from the date of the notices), they threatened that if the farmers didn’t carry out the evacuation , the occupation authorities would take it upon themselves to carry it out and impose the costs on the farmers.

The Occupation authorities deliver these notices following a preceding military orders issued and targeted areas from the Palestinian occupied territories , along with inherited laws, which hundreds of thousands of dunums of farmers were confiscated, these lands are used as a reserve of settlement expansion, serving their colonial project in the West Bank , where settlements , colonial outposts and bypass roads are built some of these areas are also handed over to settler farmers who graze their animal on them or are leased to them for establishing farms ( fruit trees).

In the early 1980_s , the West Bank witnessed the largest assault by the Israeli occupation authorities on Palestinian lands  . As a result about 700 thousands of dunams, were  confiscated and transferred to  disposal of Israeli military commander of the occupation authorities and not to mention the lands previously seizes by the occupation, the total amount of ‘’state lands’’ in the possession of the occupation authorities is estimated around ( 1.5 million dunams ).

Returning to the eviction lands notices issued on the lands of the farmers in Halhul town, the occupation authorities targeted the lands that the farmers reclaimed and cultivated with trees and fenced to protect them, these lands became a source of income for their families and contributed to increasing the vegetation cover in the town , which is famous for growing grape and fruits, additionally it provided the Hebron governorate with a large quantities  of its products.

 A part of agricultural lands targeted by the occupation notifications

The following table provides details   of a group of notifications that have been mentioned in the area : 

On the same date and at the same location, the occupation authorities issued notices to halt the construction and work of water reservoirs and agriculture structure built by the farmers on their lands , in these notification the occupation authorities demanded that the construction work to stopped, claiming it was initiated without a building permit from them, and arguing that the structures are located in Area C, which they claim to control of it.

And the building which have been notified to stop work and construction, to the farmers whose names are in the table below : 

Land Confiscation Violates International Laws:

What Israel is doing in the occupied Palestinian territories is considered a violation of the Palestinian people's rights and their lands, and a violation of international laws and conventions. The following are the most important texts contained in international laws and treaties that prohibit Israeli settlement in Palestinian territories and prevent interference with civil and public rights and properties in occupied territories, along with relevant United Nations resolutions.

Lahay Convention / 1907:

Article 46: The occupying power may not confiscate private property.

Article 55: The occupying power is considered a manager of lands in the occupied country and must treat the country's properties as private property.

Fourth Geneva Convention / 1949:

Article 49: The occupying power has no right to transfer its citizens to territories it has occupied, or to take any action that leads to demographic change in them.

Article 53: The occupying forces have no right to destroy individual or collective personal property, or property belonging to individuals, the state, or any authority in the occupied country.

Article 147: The destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out on a large scale in an unlawful and arbitrary manner is a grave breach.

Source : GIS-LRC

 مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - FCDO

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.
إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين