On January 5, 2009, the Israeli Occupation Army issued two military orders under 'security pretexts' holding Numbers (03/09/S) & (06/09/S) declaring large tracts of Palestinian land isolated behind the Israeli Segregation Wall southwest of Hebron governorates as a “seam zone” area. That mean it is a closed military zone area, where access to such land is subjected to certain procedures. The Israeli military orders do not state the amount of land affected by such orders; however, tens of thousands of dunums of Palestinian lands in Hebron Governorate under will no longer become accessible to owner according to the Israeli military order.
The two military orders declared more than 40,000 dunums of the Palestinian lands located behind the Segregation Wall as a 'closed military zone' (Seam Zone), where no one may enter to these lands except those who are holding a special Israeli permits issued by the Israeli civil administration, and access in and out to the targeted lands will be only through the Israeli iron gates installed for this purpose. See map 1:
Map 1: Map of the military order (03/09/S)
According to the Israeli Military order # (03/09/S), it comes to emphasize previously issued military confiscation orders holding numbers:
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47/04/T
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64/04/T
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65/04/T
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02/05/T
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66/04/T
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71/05/T
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72/05/T
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74/05/T
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76/05/T
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15/05/T
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183/05/T
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33/06/T
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04/05/T
Just as, the Israeli military order # (06/09/T) comes to emphasize the previously issued confiscation orders 03/05/T & 04/05/T. (see map 2)
Map 2: Map of the military order (06/09/S)
The targeted lands starts from Al Jab'a village at the far north of Hebron Governorate and move southward to the Dead Sea penetrating through the villages of Surif, Kharas, Beit Ula, Tarqumia, Deir Samit, Beit Awwa, Arab Al Ramadin, Ad Dahrieh, Yatta, and As Sumou'. (See map 3)
Map 3: Map of military orders (03/09/S) & (06/09/S)
What lay ahead?
The issued Israeli military order come to state officially the Israeli plans to slash the large tracts isolated behind the Segregation Wall from the rest of the West bank territory. It also confirms the Palestinians fear that these lands will gradually be inaccessible to them on a permanent bases due to complexity of the procedures, which the Israeli Army force the Palestinian landowners to meet in case they want to receive a permit to access the isolated lands.
Accordingly, Palestinians are looking at hundreds of thousands of Dunums to be isolated and consequently become inaccessible to its owners. On the other hand, the Israeli military order are likely to be first bricks laid to set the way for Israel to annex the Palestinian lands behind the Segregation Wall to the Israeli State and thus draw the eastern borders of Israel for the first time.
Legal & International Status
Israel is seeking to loot as much as possible of the Palestinian lands to fulfill its ever ending colonial and expansionist desires, and the new Israeli military orders to confiscate and isolate 40,000+ dunums of the Palestinian lands in Hebron Governorate came to prove that Israel is no longer interested in a final peace settlement with the Palestinians, at least not to what was agreed upon or according to the UN security council resolutions but to what it is willing to do, meanwhile, Israel continues to force new facts on the ground on a daily bases and undermine any chance for a future, viable Palestinian state.
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Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention indicated that: Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, is a grave breach of the Convention.
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Art. 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 also provides: In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
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Article XXXI of the 1995 Oslo agreement Israel is forbidden from building or planning to any project or settlements or any colonial expansion or any plan that lead to change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The article provides “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations”.
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Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: 'No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.' Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
