Israeli Occupation Forces Issues Stop Work Orders against Structures in the Village of Deir Ballout

 

 

 

Previous Orders:

The aforementioned orders are not the first of its kind to be distributed in Deir Ballout; on June 4^th, 2008, the same Committee issued 3 Stop Work Orders against Palestinian houses in the village. That was in addition to a large number of orders issued throughout the years totaling around 35 Orders up until June 2009. The same pretext (building without a permit in Area C and the close proximity of the house to the Israeli Racist Isolation Wall) was used in each issued Order. For more information regarding previous Stop Work Orders, please press here.

 

According to the Oslo Accords, only 5.3% of the total area of the village of Deir Ballout (743.5 dunums of the total area of 13,942 dunums) is classified as Area B in which Palestinian building is allowed. However, the natural expansion of the population of the village (the current population is around 4300 according to PCBS;s latest census of 2007) has forced the population to build at the expense of the villages’ agricultural lands. Currently, the built-up area in the village is about 809 dunums, which means that there are 74.5 dunums in Area C atop which Palestinian building already exist.      

 

The Village of Deir Ballout:

The village is located on the Green Line west of the Governorate of Salfeet at a distance of 20 kilometers from the City of Salfeet. The total area of the village is about 13,941 dunums of which 503 dunums are its built-up area.

 

Its population is about 4500, according to the Deir Ballout Municipality, most of whom depend on agriculture as the main source of income. The dependency of agriculture has risen sharply after the inception of the second Intifada due to the inability to access Israeli job market. The main agricultural products of the village include garlic, okra, cucumbers, wheat and olives. The presence of a water spring in Wadi Al Ain in the southern parts of the village has helped the agricultural sector to prosper. A for the drinking water of the residents of the village, they rely on water cisterns as well as on the Israeli Water Company. 

 

In terms of the main clans in the village, there are 9 of them including Tuffaha, Khair, Abdullah, Qasem, Qaroush, Mishel, Mustafa, Musa and Hadrous.  See Map 1

Israeli Colonies and Racist Isolation Wall Devour Deir Ballout Lands:

The Israeli Racist Isolation Wall (length: 10,147 meters on Deir Ballout lnads) isolated behind it 4,950 dunums of the villages’ lands from its western and southwestern directions. As for the nearby colony of Bado’el (established in 1984), it devoured 537 from the villages’ lands for its benefit including its 118.7-dunums built-up area in which 1088 Israeli colonists live. Moreover, the colony of Har Eli Zahaf (established in 1983) has confiscated 324 dunums of Deir Ballouts’ lands.