Stop-Work Notifications in Halhul Town

Violation: 6 new demolition orders.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Higher Organization Council, Secondary Inspection Committee.

Victims: 6 Palestinian families.

Date: January 2, 2011. 

 

 

Details: The Israeli Occupation Authorities issued stop-work orders against various structures in Halhul. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli troops broke into Wad Qabboun area and placed the orders on the doors of the structures. The orders claimed that the structures were constructed without receiving the needed permits from the Occupation Authorities. The orders also assigned February 3, 2011 as the date of the hearing session in Beit El Military Court to discuss the status of the structures and the possibility of demolishing them. The orders called for immediate stoppage of any construction works.

 

  

 

The locals said that the orders are part of the continuous Israeli policy that calls for strangling the Palestinians and obstruct their daily lives and development. Other notifications were issued against a retaining wall, 5 houses, and the new Palestinian Civil Defense HQ in Halhul; the construction of the later started at the end of the previous year and is still in the preparatory levels.

 

 

No	Victim	Number of structures	Area (m2)	Family members	Children	Structure type	Construction phase	picture
1	Ghassan abu Yusuf	2	300	6	2	Two storey house	Inhabited	1
2	Fares abu Yusuf	1	120	NA	NA	One storey house	Under construction	2
3	Nadim abu Yusuf	1	120	7	2	House	Under construction	3
4	Ismael abu Rayyan	2	350	5	1	Two storey house	Inhabited	4
5	Abdullah Jaradat	3	300	NA	NA	3 storey house	Under construction	5
6	Shaker al ‘Araj	1	160			Retaining wall	Surrounding agricultural field	—
Total		10	1350	18	5

 

Halhul is located 7 km to the north of Hebron city; its total area is 37286 dunums including 3400 of built-up area while the rest is agricultural fields planted with grapes, prunus, and others. It is 1050 meters above sea level which is the highest point in the West Bank. Halhul is inhabited by 22128 people according to the PBS statistics of 2007.

 

The Israeli Occupation Authorities threaten Palestinian structures under the pretext of no permits knowing that the Israeli Authorities almost never give any construction permits to Palestinians in areas classified ‘C’ according to Oslo. According to Oslo, Halhul was divided into 5425 as area ‘A’, 26216 ‘B’, 10727 dunums ‘C’, and 159 dunums ‘H1’.

 

The Israeli Authorities threaten any house built over area ‘C’ under the pretext of no permit knowing that the conditions needed for receiving a permit are unattainable. At the same time, tens of Palestinian houses are endangered with demolition that might occur any moment while the Israelis are announcing bids for tens of thousands of colonial units all around the West Bank.