Land Research Center

Tuesday December 24^th 2019, The Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished a residential building  in Khallet Al-‘Abed neighborhood in Jabal Al-Mukabbir south occupied Jerusalem , on the pretext of building without licenses , the building consists of two apartments :

One of the owners, Muntassir Shqairat told LRC:

“The house was built 4 years ago in 2015, it consists of two apartments , I live in the first floor with my family, while in the second floor my brother Amin lives with his family.

After the construction, the occupation municipality showed up and gave us a summons to the occupation’s municipality court, where we were fined with 120 thousand NIS (34,000 $) , and until this day we have paid 80 thousand NIS (23,000 $).

We thought that paying the fine will save the house , but in November 2019 we received a demolition order from the occupation’s court. However, today Dec 24^th  at 4:30 am , massive army forces accompanied by bulldozers raided the area, forcedly evicted the two apartments , then leveled the building to the ground. The demolition took two hours, then the bulldozer left leaving massive destruction.”

This comes in light of wilful negligence for Arab neighborhoods in Occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli Occupation refuse to organize its neighborhoods, and refuse to provide licenses for Jerusalemites, who then forced to build their houses without licenses, to face at the end the bitter fate of denmolition.

About Jabal Al Mukabbir: [1]

5 kilometers south Jerusalem city , Jabal Al Mukabbir is surrounded by Silwan (north, Ath Thuri (west) , Abu Dis and As-Sawahra Ash- Sharqiya (east) , As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya (south).

Jabal Mukabbir and As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya together have a total population of (21, 127 ) people in 2012 census-The Jerusalem academy of Israeli Studies-, Jabal Al Mukabbir has an area of 3,281 dunums , 682,7 of them are the towns built uo area.

Israeli settlements devoured 300 dunums of the town's lands:

Legal Feedback:

Israeli occupation measurements of demolishing Palestinian constructions are a violation of the rights of Palestinian citizens as ensured by international law and international conventions especially the right of an appropriate residence. According to the following articles:

Article 147 of Geneva fourth convention: extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. ( it is considered a serious violation of the

convention)

•Article 53 of Geneva fourth convention that forbids destroying

properties: Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

•Article 33 of Geneva fourth convention: No protected person may be

punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.

•Article 32 of Hague convention 1907 part g: To destroy or seize the

enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.

•Article 17 of Universal declaration of human rights 10 –Dec- 1948:

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

[1] GIS-LRC