Demolition of a ready-to-move-in house in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate

Violation: demolishing a residence on the pretext of not having a license.
Location: Kafr ad-Dik Town / Salfit Governorate
Date of violation: 01/08/2022.
The aggressor: the so-called building inspector of the Israeli Civil Administration.
The affected party: the family of the citizen Fawzi Nafez Salim “Ali Ahmed”.
Details of the violation:

On the morning of Monday, August 1, 2022, the so-called construction inspector of the Israeli Civil Administration, accompanied by a large force of the Israeli occupation army, raided the “Diriya” area to the west of the town of Kafr ad-Dik, where the occupation imposed a complete closure on the area, before starting to build execution of a large-scale demolition operation by two civilian bulldozers that were accompanied by the occupation army. The operation affected a one-storey house ready-to-move-in, with a total area of 190 m², owned by the family of Fawzi Nafez Salim “Ali Ahmed”, consisting of (3) members, namely the husband, wife and child Uday, A thirteen-year-old.

It is noteworthy that the occupation deliberately destroyed the house completely, without leaving anything in it, as the affected citizen was not allowed to remove any of the contents of the house before the demolition. The house then was leveled to the ground before the occupation army withdrew from the area at approximately (11 am).

Regarding the details of the demolition and destruction process, the affected citizen told the filed researcher of the Land Research Center the following:

“Three years ago I set out to build a house with the aim of housing my family, as I work as a laborer, and I collected all the money I had and borrowed a large amount in order to speed up the preparation of the building. Within one week, I was scheduled to move in it before the demolition, and I started the stage of preparing for the transfer of furniture to the new house. The total cost of the house reached 280,000 shekels, most of which are accumulated debts on me, and now the occupation is destroying my dream like any human being in this universe to live in a safe housing, as my house is located away from the Israeli settlements and is located at a distance of 200 meters’ south bypass road!”.

It is noteworthy that the targeted house had previously received a notice to stop construction on 17/6/2020, as a human rights organization was assigned to follow up the licensing procedures in full, but this procedure was rejected by the so-called Organization and Construction Committee of the Israeli Civil Administration, and in the summer of 2021, the owner received another military notice to stop construction on the same house, but despite the victim’s attempt to complete the license application, the occupation refused these procedures until the house was demolished one week before moving in.

For his part, the mayor of Kafr ad-Dik, Mr. Muhammad Naji El-Dik, told the field researcher:

“During the current year, the occupation has escalated the pace of attacks against the residents of Kafr ad-Dik municipality, where there are more than 40 dangers concentrated in the southern and western side of the town, not to mention the targeting of agricultural lands and the cutting of olive trees in the northern area of the town, not even the agricultural rooms were spared. As a result of the occupation’s targeting of it, part of it was demolished and the rest threatened with demolition, so the town of Kafr ad-Dik has become a devastated town”.

It is worth mentioning, that according to field research indicators, the town of Kafr ad-Dik is one of the most prominent Palestinian communities targeted by the occupation at the level of Salfit Governorate, where a large number of such attacks were monitored, affecting all aspects of life there.

According to the documentation of the field research team at the Land Research Center, the town of Kafr ad-Dik was subjected during the current year 2022 to a large number of Israeli violations on land and housing. For more, see the reports issued by the Land Research Center, which are the following:

On 01/04/2022, the settlers of “Eli Zahav” stole olive plantations from the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On 01/17/2022 a notification of eviction of 5 dunums of Kafr ad-Dik lands in Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic ; the report is in English).

On 01/21/2022 four dunams were seized and planted by the colonists in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On January 23, 2022, under the pretext of attacking antiquities… the occupation notifies the eviction of a plot of land in Kafr ad-Dik, west of Salfit (the report is in Arabic, the report is in English).

On February 13, 2022, the settlers vandalized 5 agricultural rooms in the lands of Zahr Subh in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On February 20, 2022 notices of stopping work and construction in 6 agricultural rooms in the town of Kafr ad-Dik, west of Salfit (the report is in Arabic , the report is in English).
On 03/03/2022, 190 olive plants were cut and stolen and an agricultural room was vandalized in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic, the report is in English).

On 03/09/2022, notices were given to stop work and construction on lands and an agricultural facility in the town of Kafr ad-Dik, west of Salfit (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On 03/09/2022, 60 grape seedlings were cut and stolen and stone stalks were destroyed in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On March 15, 2022, the “Brukhin” settlers cut down dozens of olive trees from the lands of the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic , the report in English).

On March 31, 2022 notices to stop work and construction were distributed in four agricultural rooms in the town of Kafr ad-Dik in Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic, the report is in English).

On 03/04/2022, the construction of a new settlement outpost in “Badawil” settlement began on the lands of the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On 04/04/2022 a new settlement outpost was established on the lands of the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic , the report is in English).

On 05/05/2022, “Brukhin” settlers destroyed 24 olive trees in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

On May 22, 2022, three agricultural rooms were demolished in the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic, the report is in English).

On 06/23/2022 the occupation targeted houses, a water well, and an electricity network in the town of Kafr ad-Dik in Salfit Governorate (the report is in Arabic, the report is in English).

On 07/19/2022, the settlers of “Eli Zahav” cut 60 olive plantations from the lands of the town of Kafr ad-Dik / Salfit Governorate (the report in Arabic, the report in English).

About the town of Kafr ad-Dik:[1]

The town of Kafr ad-Dik is located 15 km to the west of the city of Salfit. It is bordered to the north by Bidya, to the west by the villages of Rafat, and Deir Ballut, to the east by the villages of Burqin and Sarta, and to the south by the villages of Bani Zaid. Its population reached 5551 people until 2017, and its total area is 15529 dunums, of which 791 dunums are the building-up area of the village.

The occupation confiscated an area of 2477 dunums of its lands, as follows:

The settlements looted 1225 dunums of village lands, which are:

Name of the settlement	Year of establishment	Confiscated land in dunums	Number of settlers
Har Alei Zahav	1982	134	NA
Alei Zahav- Yo’ezer	1982	290	424
Pedu’el	1984	800	1088
Bruchin	1999	1	NA
Total		1225	1512

Bypass roads plundered 362 dunums.

The apartheid wall looted under its track 890 dunums, and about 8842 dunums will be isolated behind it, and its length on the village lands is 8905 meters.

According to the Oslo agreement, the lands of Kafr ad-Dik are classified as B and C, which constitutes 15% of the area of the village, while areas C, i.e. under the full control of the Israeli occupation, constitute 85%.