On 29 September, 2009, personnel from the planning and construction committee of the so-called Israeli civil administration in the West Bank handed over halt- of -construction orders to 7 citizens form Azzun town, Qalqiliya governorate against their houses and agricultural installations under the pretext of building in zone C of Oslo agreement’s classifications without having proper licensing from the Israeli side. Table 1, Notified owners by name, family members, No, of housing units, No. of agricultural installations and area.
|
No.
|
Owner’s name
|
#
Fam. Mem.
|
#
Children
|
#
Housing units
|
#
Agr. installation
|
Area
M2
|
Notes
|
|
1
|
Naser Salameh Salim
|
6
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
250
|
Inhabited Basement and 1st floor
|
|
2
|
‘Ikrima Yusif Salim
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
240
|
Inhabited two floors
|
|
3
|
Azem Mohammed Salim
|
8
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
340
|
Inhabited three floors
|
|
4
|
Rashid Abdullah Hussein
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
240
|
Under construction two floors
|
|
5
|
Musa Sulieman Abu Labada
|
10
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
130
|
Uninhabited one floor
|
|
6
|
Sai’d Suker Salim
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
60
|
Poultry farm
|
|
7
|
Kamal Yusif Salim
|
7
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
100
|
Under construction one floor
|
|
Total
|
38
|
20
|
10
|
2
|
1360
|
|
|
Source: LRC field work
The notified premises are located in the vicinity of the towns’ master plan and in some cases the notified houses are only 12 meter away from the village borders. On the other hand, some of the notified premises were built more than ten years ago such as the house of Mr. ‘Ikrima Yusif Salama, 43 years old, whose house was built in 1996 and received no previous warnings from the Israeli occupation.
Closure continued over Azzun’s northern entrance
As part of the on going psychological and economic war against the Palestinian people, the Israeli occupation army continues to close the northern entrance of the town of Azzun. The closure was initiated in August, 2008 and has been in force ever since despite all attempts to get it opened. Azzun’s northern entrance is vital for the town as it connects it with the main road number 55 that leads to the cities of Qalqiliya, Tulkarem and Nablus. As long as this entrance remains closed there is no possibility for the Palestinians who live inside Israel to do shopping in Azzun town, and accordingly, the town makes no profit. In addition, the closure of this gate interrupts movement and relationship between Azzun and its periphery villages.
Photos 3&4: Azzun’s northern entrance which has been closed since August, 2008
Background to Azzun
The town is located between the cities of Nablus and Qalqiliya on road number 55 at the distance of 9 km east of Qalqiliya city. Azzun’s total surface land area is 9140 dunums of which 1054 dunums designated as built up area. Around 276 dunums of Azzun’s land ( 3% of the total area) were confiscated for the construction of the two colonies of Ma’ale Shomron and Ginat Shomron.
The town’s total population at the end of 2007 was 7821.
Azzun’s town is located in the centre of a number of villages as followed:
From North: Sir, Jayyus, Kafer Jamal, Kafer Abush, Kafer Zeybad and Kafr Sur;
From South: Kafr Thuluth, Siniriya, Masha, Bidya and Az Zawiya;
From west: Nabi Eliya and Asala;
From east: Kafer Laqif, Jinsafut, Hajja, Baget Al Hateb, Imatin, Farta’a, Jit Kafr Qadum, Sura.
Related case studies:
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
