Stop Work Orders Issued by Israeli Occupation Authorities against Palestinian Structures in Yatma Village

Photo 1: The under-construction house of Mr. Mohammad Mahmoud
Snouber that received a Stop Work Order – Yatma Village.

On the 28^th of July 2009, the “Planning and Organization Department” associated with the so-called Israeli “Civil Administration” issued 12 Stop Work orders to Palestinian structures in the village of Yatma southeast of the city of Nablus. The pretext used to issue such orders was building without an Israeli-issued building permit in an area classified as Area C according to the Oslo Accords.

Photo 2: The house of Mr. Mohammad Saqer Dawoud Snouber which was issued a Stop Work Order.

The following table list the relevant information vis-à-vis the Orders

No.	Name	No. of Family Members	Area in m²	Status of Houses
1	Mohammad Mahmoud Oudeh Snouber	6	120	Under construction.
2	Wa’el Abdel Aziz Al Najjar	2	90	Ready but un-inhabited
3	Abdel Hakim Mohammad Dawoud Snouber	7	160	Inhabited
4	A’ahed Mohammad Dawoud Snouber	4	120	Inhabited
5	Yaser Ahmad Oudeh Snouber	5	140	Under construction
6	Abdel Raheem Fawzi Snouber	3	70	Inhabited
7	Mohammad Hilal Abdel Kareem Najjar	9	145	Inhabited
8	Musa Wajeeh Musa Najjar	4	120	Inhabited
9	Nabhan Tawfiq Ali Eid Najjar	8	160	Under construction
10	Ahmad Ibrahim Hazim Snouber	2	90	Inhabited
11	Mohammad Saqr Dawoud Snouber	11	140	Under construction
12	Nasra Fathi Najjar	4	140	Under construction
TOTAL		65	1495

Photo 3: The threatened house of Mr. Nabhan Tawfiq Najjar – Yatma

The “Planning Department” gave the owners of the houses until the 20^th of August, 2009, to appeal the Orders and to start the process of straightening the status of their houses.

An Unknown Future Lays Ahead:

56 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, face the prospect of their houses being demolished and becoming homeless in case Israeli occupation authorities carryout its threat. Of those Palestinians 29 are currently living in their houses while the other 36 are waiting to move into them upon completion.

Yatma Village: General Information

The village is located 11 kilometers south of the city of Nablus on the main Nablus-Jerusalem Road. The total area of the village is about 4,411 dunums of which 392 dunums are its built-up area. The village is surrounded by the villages of Al Sawiyya, Yasouf, Beita and Qabalan. Its population is about 2,853.

There are two main clans in the village; Najjar (its sub-clans include Hasan, Shihada, Abu Baker and Musallam) and Snouber (its sub-clans include Haddad, Oudeh and Muhsen)

Map 1: Yatma Village

The village had its share of confiscations as the nearby colony of Rakhaleim confiscated 25.7 dunums of Yatma lands since its establishment in 1991. Currently, the built-up area of the colony is 547 dunums confiscated from the villages of Al Sawiyya, Iskaka as well as Yatma.