Notifications for the demolition and removal of 3 houses in the village of “Umm Qassa” in the Yatta badia, south of Hebron

May 30, 2022

• Violation: Notifications of demolition and removal of 3 homes.
• Location: Umm Qassa – Yatta town / Hebron governorate.
• The date of the violation is 30/05/2022.
• The aggressor: the so-called Israeli Civil Administration.
• Affected party: 3 citizens of the village.

The details:

On Thursday, May 30, 2022, the Israeli occupation authorities issued notices to demolish and remove three houses, under the pretext that they were built without a permit in the village of “Umm Qassa” in the eastern Yatta badia, south of Hebron. The affected citizens were reported; That a vehicle belonging to the so-called Organization and Building Department of the “Civil Administration” affiliated with the occupation, accompanied by a military vehicle, raided the village, at about ten in the morning. The so-called building inspector wrote the orders, affixed them to the targeted homes, and took photographs of the place before leaving the area.

The occupation’s notifications came under the title “Notification to remove new buildings,” in which it demanded the demolition of the buildings within (96 hours) on the pretext of not presenting a building license (building permit), and threatened that if the owners did not demolish them and return the lands to their previous condition, the Organization and Building Department would demolish the buildings, and incurring the owners the costs of the operation.

In issuing these notifications, the occupation authorities relied on military order No. (1797) issued in 2018, which targets newly constructed, incomplete or uninhabited buildings according to the interpretations and convictions of the occupation authorities.

The following table shows the names of the citizens whose homes the occupation authorities targeted:

Here, it should be noted that the occupation authorities had raided the area on (2/27/2022) and sticka notice to stop work and construction (according to the Law No. 79 of 1966) on the house of the citizen Najih Al-Ta’imat, and went to notify other houses, then returned after about half an hour, he arrived at Al-Ta’imat’s house, and the inspector removed the notice from the house and took it with him. However, Al-Ta’imat managed to take a picture of this notice bearing the number (31208) and keep it.

Notification No. 31208 issued by the occupation in the home of the Al-Ta’imat which has been later removed

The paradox in this case is; It is that the citizen can file a legal objection and open a license file based on the work stop notification issued on (27/2/2022), but in light of the persistence of the occupation authorities targeting the homes of citizens, it returned and issued a demolition and removal notice that is difficult to object to, and even the Supreme Court of the Israeli government has rejected most of the petitions submitted by citizens to object to this type of notification, and according to the “St. Yves” human rights organization that deals with legal pleadings before the occupation courts, the Supreme Court has rejected all petitions submitted by citizens in Hebron governorate requesting to cancel this type of notification since the beginning Work in it (2018) to this day, with the exception of one case.

As we have said, these notifications based on Military Order No. 1797 target unfinished buildings. The construction inspector of the occupation deliberately described the houses as unroofed, while it was noticed that only one of them was not roofed, while the other two houses were roofed, and in the eyes of the citizens living in Yatta, they live in their homes and have lived in it for a long time, and according to the nature of their lives, their residence in it is considered a “convincing housing” for them.

Accordingly, the occupation authorities indicated in their notification that the house of Najih Al-Ta’imat was not roofed, but in fact, according to the citizen’s testimony, it was roofed last February, and the house of Nayef Al-Atimin was roofed a long time ago and he lived in it (see photos 1 + 2 listed in the previous table).

It should be noted that Khirbet Umm Qassa is considered one of the population centers in the eastern Yatta badia. It is inhabited by citizens of the Al-Kaabneh family. The population of Khirbet is about (300 individuals) who work in raising livestock and cultivating their lands.

The occupation authorities targeted the Khirbet school with demolition and removal notices, demolished a mosque under construction in the Khirbet, and confiscated a health clinic building that served the citizens in the community. The occupation authorities also classify the village and its surroundings as “firing zone 917”.