Demolishing a Number of Tents and Barns in Toubas Governorate

Violation: Demolishing of 11 living tents and 8 sheep barns
Date: 08/07/2013
Perpetrators: The Israeli occupation army
Victims: 7 Bedouin families consisting of 46 members including 22 children

Details:

Jamel Awda (67 years old) could not breathe while watching the ruins of the tents and barns demolished by the Israeli occupation in a large-scale demolition campaign that has targeted many tents and sheds donated by Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as a shelter to families who were displaced after a demolition operation carried out by the occupation on 27/06/2013.

This scenario has been repeating itself seven consecutive times during the last three years according to Jamel Awda. It is the Israeli message that Palestinian people have to leave their lands and be strangers in their very own homeland while the occupation is working on legalizing the settlements, stealing land and Judaizing it.

On 08/07/2013, the Israeli occupation led a wide destruction operations that affected 7 Bedouin families without any beforehand warning. That step came after carrying out a similar demolition operation that targeted the same Bedouin families in the very same place on 27/06/2013, i.e. less than two weeks ago. The Israeli occupation claimed that the families’ presence is illegal though the families have legal documents that prove they are the legitimate owners of the land.

The table provides information about the affected families:

Affected citizen	Location	Family	Children	Damage		Notes
Affected citizen	Location	Family	Children	Living tent	Barn	Notes
Lutfi Awda	Al-Ra’s El-Ahmar	9	4	2	2	Demolished for the 2nd time
Mohammad Awda	Al-Ra’s El-Ahmar	7	3	1	1	Demolished for the 2nd time
Jamel Awda	Al-Ra’s El-Ahmar	10	5	2	2	Demolished for the 7th time
Suleiman Awda	Al-Ra’s El-Ahmar	4	2	2	0	Demolished for the 4th time
Abdul-Mahdi Salamin	Al-Hadidiya	9	5	2	1	Demolished for the 5th time
Salam Salamin	Al-Hadidiya	2	0	1	2	Demolished for the 2nd time
Eiath Salamin	Al-Hadidiya	5	3	1	0	Demolished for the 2nd time
Total		46	22	11	8

*source: Field research- Dept. of Israeli Violation Inspection- LRC.

Scenes from the demolition operations in Al-Ra’s El-Ahmar and Al-Hadidiya

Land Research Center (LRC) considers the demolition and destruction of Palestinian property a blatant violation to all international laws and conventions, some of which are:

Article 17 of the universal declaration of human rights, 1948, stating: -"1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property."
Part (g) of article 23 of the "La Hague" Conventions of 1907 stating that -"destroying or seizing the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war" is prohibited.
Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention, 1949, stating: "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 cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."