The Israeli Occupation unLights Mnezel- Hebron governorate

The Israeli Occupation Authorities issued demolition orders against the solar cells used to provide the village with electricity. They also issued stop-work orders against a number of residences and the school’s toilet.

 

Mnezel relied on primitive methods to set their nights alight before a project was introduced by the Spanish SIPA that enabled them to use solar cells to generate electricity. The solar cells became operational in 2009, providing 40 households with electricity.

 

  

 

According to Ali Rashid of Mnezel Village Council, the household share of electricity is 1 KW per day which is barely enough for lighting the houses. The locals do not use electricity during the day to save it for night usage. He said in a statement: ‘on October 10, 2010, Israeli officers broke into the viilage and placed an order demanding the demolition of the cells and returning to the status quo within a week from the order date. The order was supposed to be based on previous orders that were never received. As soon as we found the order, we headed to Mrs. Qamar Mashreqi, an attorney of law, to object to the order.‘ When asked about the consequences of the order, Rashid said: “despite the limited amount of energy these solar cells provide; their destruction will bring darkness to the village. We call for all the humanitarian organizations to intervene and to help us find alternative sources of energy to operate refrigerators and washing machines.”

 

Concurrently, the Israeli Occupation Forces raided 5 residences and handed the owners stop-work orders. Table 1: threatened houses:

 

No.	Victim	Area (m2)	Family members	structure	year
1	Ahmad Hrezat	100	8	House – inhabited	2006
2	Jihad hrezat	100	3	House – inhabited	2008
3	Ali Hrezat	120	12	House – inhabited	2007
4	Mohammad Mur	60	15	Shed – inhabited	2001
5	Abdul Rahman Hrezat	40	7	House – inhabited	2004

 

 

The Israeli Occupation Authorities issued a demolition order for Mnezel School WC. Mohammad abu Zuhra stated to an LRC observer that Israeli troops broke into the school on November 21, 2011 and handed them a written notification.

 

 

 

The order, numbered 145005, called for the immediate stoppage of any construction and specified December 15 as the date of a hearing session to be held in Beit El Military Court. Work in the proposed 70-m2-toilets started at the beginning of 2011; it was supposed to serve 120 students and 17 teachers. He also said that in 2009, the Israelis ordered the stoppage of construction in the new building which was supposed to replace the old one.

 

 

 

Most of the attacks on the village were launched from the nearby Beit Yatir colony. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation Authorities prevented the paving of the road leading to the main entrance of the village. The Israeli troops obstruct the movement of the villagers often as well as blocking the road with earth mounds, forcing the villagers to take a much longer route through Yatta.

 

 

 

Israeli colonists exploit the villagers’ lands by plowing, planting, and grazing in it; all done under the protection of the Israeli Army.

 

 

Ibrahim abu Qbeita, a seventh grader, the wall surrounding Beit Yatir completely isolated his house from the village; he is now forced to pass through the colony entrance to get to school.

  

Mahmoud talked about the route to school, he said: “we cannot leave our house unless we have the permits issued by the Israeli Civil Administration; we have to renew the permits every semester. The Israelis revoked our clearances many times rendering us unable to get to school not to mention the frequent inspections every time we pass. ”

 

  

 

 

The child pointed out that the same goes for his brothers, father, mother, and even his old grandmother; he also said that 5 students in the village have similar clearances.

 

Mnezel is located 10 km south of Yatta town. It is inhabited by around 400 people who depend largely on agriculture and herding in their living. The village holds a school, a mosque, a medical center within its boundaries; most of the village structures are built of concrete but some are built of metal slabs. The village is edged by Beit Yatir bypass and Susiya colony (north), Beit Yatir (south), and bypass ’60’ (west).