Israeli Stop Work Orders Distributed in the Villages of Al Funduq and Jinsafut

The village of Al Funduq is located 16.682 kilometers east of the city of Qalqilia. Its area is 890 dunums of which 198 dunums are its build-up area. The population of the village is about 760. As for the village of Jinsafut, it is located 17 kilometers south east of the city of Qalqilia. Its total area is 8,659 dunums including the 218 dunums build-up area. Its population is estimated to be 2,119. The village is a victim of Israeli colonies as more than 688 dunums were confiscated for the purpose of establishing and expanding the colonies of Neve Oraniem (538 dunums) and Karni Shomron (150 dunums).

   

 

On the 15^th of July, 2009, the so-called Israeli “Civil Administration” distributed a number of Stop Work Orders against structures in both villages under the pretext of being constructed in Area Cwithout the needed permits.

 

 

Israeli occupation forces gave property owners until the 14^th of August, 2009, to take the necessary steps needed to be issued a building permit from the Civil Administration in Beit El. That is despite the fact that occupation authorities have made the procedures exceedingly difficult in an effort to declare the structures “illegal” as a prelude to demolish them and displacing their residents. 

 

 

The following table lists the relevant information vis-à-vis the latest Orders in the two villages:

Name	Village	Family Members	No. of Children	Area in m2	Type of Structure	Status of Structure
Firas Talal Bilia	Al Fundoq	6	4	290	Residential	Under construction.
Naser Abdel Hafiz Tayyem		6	4	180	Residential	Inhabited.
Abu Baker Al Siddiq Mosque		——-	——–	400	Mosque	Under construction
Adnan Mahmoud Eid	Jinsafut	8	6	60	Residential	The fence of the house.
Ghaleb Fawzi Mohammad Eid		7	5	70	Residential	The addition of new rooms to an inhabited house.
TOTAL		27	19	940

 

The new wave of Stop Work orders raised the number of threatened structures in east Qalqilia to more than 40 including 17 structures in Jinsafut since the beginning of the current Intifada. The fact that the threatened structures are scattered over a relatively large area has caused a great deal of concern for the owners of the structures as well as to their neighbors who are left wondering when would it be their turn to receive such orders. 

 

Israeli occupation authorities have always aimed at limiting the Master Plan of any specific Palestinian community to its already-present built-up area. That is despite the fact such area would not meet the future natural growth for the Palestinians living in these communities. As such, Palestinians find themselves obliged to build in Area C and taking the high risk of Israeli forces stopping the work or even demolish the structure.

 

The situation in Al Fundoq and Jinsafut is the prefect example of the afore-mentioned scenario; For example, the area allocated for building in the village of Jinsafut (according to its Master Plan) is 502 dunums out of its 8,659 dunum area. According to Jinsafut’s village council, this area does not meet the current housing needs of the population. As such, people feel pushed to expand in the periphery of the village which makes their structure vulnerable for Israeli demolition.

 

Israeli occupation forces in the past did not only issue similar orders; it actually demolished a 2-story house on the 12^th of June 2007. The area of the house was 360 m² and it was owned by Mr. Abdel Fattah Rasheed Ali from the village of Jinsafut. The pretext used for the demolition was, again, that the house was constructed in Area C before getting the necessary permits.

 

 

 

Israeli authorities have also issued a demolition order against an animal pen in June 2007 that belonged to Mr. Youserf Mohammad Sukker using the same pretext. One of the Stop Work Orders distributed in the village of Jinsfaut in June 2007

 

For additional information regarding the stop work orders distributed in the village of Jinsafut in the past, please click here

 

[1] GIS Unit at LRC.

[2] Previous source

[3] The Oslo Accords (II) signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1995 placed the lands in the West Bank and Gaza into three categories; A, B and C. Around 60% of West Bank lands are Area C while the remaining 40% are classified as Areas A and B.

[4] B’Tselem