- Violation: Demolition of constructions.
- Date: September -3-2018.
- Location: Qawawis – east Yatta- Hebron governorate.
- Perpetrator: The Israeli occupation civil administration.
- Victims: Villager Yousif Abu Aram.
Description:
The Israeli occupation authorities demolished house of Yousif Abu Aram in September 3 in Qawawis village. The owner said that members of the Israeli occupation army with a (JCB) bulldozer broke into the town 4:00 am and demolished the structure. The targeted house is reported to have an area of 40 m2 , built of bricks and strengthened cement. It was supposed to be a family home for 10 family members, 3 of them are children, building it cost about 87,600 $.
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Photos 1-3: remains of the targeted home.
The occupation authorities served a stop-work notice in august 19 to the targeted house, and set august 26 for the session of the subcommittee to decide the fate of the house. the given period to obtain a building permit was too short ,Abu Aram hired a lawyer from a Human rights aid institution to get him more time, they got another week and applied the necessary documents to obtain a permit , but the occupation authorities demolished the house without a demolition order.
Affected villager testified that illegal settlers of “Mizpe Yaer” settlement broke into the house under the protection of the Israeli occupation army and attacked the workers in august 20. such assaults aim to terrorize villagers and keep them from constructing any new houses.
After that, officer from the Israeli occupation civil administration showed up in the place and confiscated building material and handed the owner a military order entitled “Confiscation of goods”
After Yousif had lost his home, he implanted a tent on the place of the demolished home to protect his land, but the occupation broke into the location, served military order entitled with (confiscation of goods), dismantled the tent and confiscated it.
It is noteworthy that the house was demolished without decreeing a demolition military orders which shows that the occupation is persistent to demolish Palestinian homes and shut out Palestinian expansion in C areas.
In the early morning hours of September -3 , number of members from the Israeli occupation army on 3 military vehicles, a vehicle from the civil administration and a (JCB) bulldozer broke into Qawawis hamlet ,south east Yatta and demolished a residential room also owned by Yousif Abu Aram (44), claiming that it is an unlicensed construction.
Same vehicles headed to Duzin area and demolished 2 mobile bathrooms built of steel sheets (each one has an area of 1m2) and a barracks (40 m2) used as a car-repairing workshop owned by citizen Salama Nayef Al Yatameen.
Background Information about Qawawis:
The region of Qawawis (area = 400 dunums) is a combination of agricultural lands, valleys, hills, mountains and grazing fields. It is located south of the town of Yatta and is close to the Palestinian communities of Ma’ein, Al Birka and Al Karmel to which it is connected through an old sandy road.
The population of Qawawis is about 100 individuals from the extended family of Abu ‘Iram. The breadwinners in the khirbet depend on agriculture and herding as their main source of income. The khirbet has only two water cisterns and its inhabitants cook using wood and illuminate the dark nights using gas lamps.
The region is bounded from the east by the illegal colonial outpost at Umm Al Shaqhan, from the west by the colony of Susiya and the by-pass road, from the north by the town of Yatta and the village of Ma’ein while the khirbet of Umm Al Arayes borders it from the south.
Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with all of the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:
Article 147 of Geneva fourth convention : extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. ( it is considered a serious violation of the convention)
Article 53 of Geneva fourth convention that forbids destroying properties : Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
Article 33 of Geneva fourth convention: No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.
Article 32 of Hague convention 1907 part g: To destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.
Article 17 of Universal declaration of human rights 10 –Dec- 1948: No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property
The Land Research Center
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