Land Research Center

On the morning of February 24, 2022, the occupation authorities, accompanied by bulldozers and security forces, stormed the Al-Baqan neighborhood, east of Anata village, and demolished the house of Raed Hajjaj Al-Fhaidat, without prior warning and under the pretext that the owner did not have a legal permit to build from the occupation municipality.

It is noteworthy that the house, which consists of two apartments with an area of about 150 square meters each , and a construction cost of more than 500,000 shekels, about 160,000 US dollars, was built in 2016. The owner of the house received a notice to stop the construction, and accordingly, the lawyer submitted an objection, but the forces suddenly raided the place and carried out the demolition without the knowledge of the owner, noting that the owner did not receive any written notices about the demolition.

It is noteworthy that the owner's family composes of five members, two girls and a boy, and they used to live in one of the demolished apartments, which consists of four rooms and utilities. As for the second apartment, it is ready, but it is empty at this time when the demolition took place.

The owner of the house pointed out the difficulty and sadness of the situation after what happened, and stated that the municipality had not only demolished his house, but had brought in workers to move his furniture before the demolition, most of which was destroyed due to the rapid transfer process. In addition, the windows and doors of the house were also destroyed because of this act, and Al-Fahidat said that his family, after losing their home, had found themselves forces to move to the house of the owner's brother for an indefinite period.

The village of Anata is located to the north-east of Jerusalem, and it is bordered by the wall on all its sides, the occupation imposes restrictions on ‘Anattah residents , whether by demolishing structures or prohibiting construction , or by the area of keeping the village’s land under the occupation’s control , the  separation wall installed around the village is one of the common excuses for the occupation to justify demolitions, as it is the situation related to the Al-Fahidat family home.

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About Anatah:[1]

About 10 km north east Jerusalem, Anatah is surrounded by Hizma (north), Shufat (west) , Al'Eizariya and Jericho (east) Al'Isawiya (south). Anatah has a population of (16,919) people in 2017 census. The Israeli illegal occupation confiscated about (5727) dunums for the following purposes:

Settlements:

Bypass roads (1 , 437 , 485) confiscated (1,301) dunums.

The apartheid wall took over (341) dunums , and isolated (506) dunums , and in case it was completed according to the revealed plan it will isolate (16 ,026)dunums.

Military camps confiscated (1,317) dunums.

According to Oslo convention the land is divided to 2 parts:

• Area B : (902) dunums.
• Area C: (23,124) dunums.

Legal Commentary:

The demolition of Palestinian homes and 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:

The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 147, stipulates that “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” 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.

[1] GIS-LRC

[1] GIS-LRC