Halt-of-Construction orders hit Palestinian structures in the village of Qibya in Ramallah Governorate

On the 21^st of November of 2010, the Israeli committee of Building and planning at the Israeli Civil Administration served demolition notifications to 26 Palestinian families in the village of Qibya west of Ramallah city, with the pretext of illegal building due to their location in the area classified as ‘C’. The threatened houses have been inhabited by their owners for more than 12 years. The people of Qibya village appealed to human rights organizations, and relevant authorities, to stand by their side to defend their threatened homes and lands. One of Qibya citizens said that the demolition of this number of houses will cause the displacement of more than two hundred people living in the village. Table 1 gives details of a number of the military orders that were served to residents of Qibya village:-

 

Table 1: A number of the ‘halt of construction’ orders that have been distributed to the people of Qibya village.
No	Military order №	Area	Facility type
1	147590	250 m²	A two-storey house
2	147587	100 m²	House
3	147587	160 m²	House
4	147587	150 m²	House
5	147587	180 m²	House
6	147596	200 m²	House
7	147586	400 m²	A two-storey house
8	147071	140 m²	House
9	147592	130 m²	House
10	147070	130 m²	House
11	147591	150 m²	House
12	147597	120 m²	House
13	147594	80 m²	House
14	147598	80 m²	House
15	147595	80 m²	House
16	147589	150 m²	House
17	147585	140 m²	House
18	147593	120 m²	House
19	147582	140 m²	A two-storey house
Reference: Village Council of Qibya village – Ramallah Governorate, 2010

 

 

 Map 1: the threatened houses in Qibya village –Ramallah Governorate

 

The Israeli Occupation authorities deliberately target Palestinian properties (homes, animal barns, factories etc…) located in areas classified as C (according to Oslo II Interim Agreement of 1995) on the pretext that these structures are subjected to absolute and consequent Israeli military security control, where Palestinians who live in these areas and plan to build and expand are obliged to issue special permits from the Israeli civil administration in order to allow them to build. It is worth mentioning that the Israeli Occupation authorities suffocate Palestinian citizens who apply for licenses to build on their lands located in areas classified as (C); where the authorities impose rigid conditions, which must be fulfilled in order to have the approval for their building permits. Such process of waiting for a response from the Israeli civil administration regarding the building permits may take months and years for their applications to get approved, and in most cases the applications are rejected under the pretext of not fulfilling the Israeli conditions. Not forgetting to mention the huge amount of money paid by the individual Palestinian citizen in order to obtain a building permit in Area C; and due to the urgent need for shelter and keeping pace with population growth, Palestinians are obliged to build without permits and therefore, their structures become under the threat of demolition.

Qibya village, location & Population

The village of Qibya is located to the west of Ramallah city and to the east of the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line). It is bordered by the villages of Shuqba and Rantis from the northwest and north respectively and the villages of Budrus and Ni’lin form the south. Before the 1948 war, the village of Qibya spread over an area of 16407 dunums (16.4 km²) and its boundaries extended westwards beyond the 1949 Armistice Line. During the 1948 war, the village lost around 71% (11,684 dunums) of its area and came to spread over just about 29% (4723 dunums) of its original area (16407 dunums). According to census of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics of 2009, the village of Qibya populates 6029 people; most of them are farmers and work in the agricultural sector.

 

According to the Oslo IIInterim Agreement of 1995 which was signed between Israel and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) on September 24, 1995, the Palestinian territory was divided into areas A, B and C. In Area A, the Palestinian Authority have complete autonomy over administrative and security issues; where in area B, the Palestinians have only civil responsibilities; and in Area C, Israel has full control over the area which constitutes 61% of the total West Bank area. Accordingly, Qibya village lands were classified into areas ‘B’ & ‘C’. But in area ‘C’, any Palestinian building, construction or land utilization is forbidden as it is compulsory for Palestinians to go to the Israeli Civil Administration in order to obtain building permits. Under the signed agreement, Qibya village lands were fragmented to areas “B” and ‘C.’ where:

Table 2: Qibya Village Land classification depending on the Oslo II Interim agreement of 1995
Land classification	Area in dunum	Percentage of the village total area
Area (A)	0	0 %
Area (B)	935	19.8 %
Area (C)	3788	80.2 %
Total area	4723	100 %
Source: The Geographical Information Systems Unit – ARIJ 2010

 

 

At the time Israel is escalating its demolition campaign against Palestinian houses in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, it never stops launching building plans and issuing tenders for thousands of housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite the fact that their existence stands in violation of the international law. Israel also adopted detailed master plans for Israeli settlements in the West Bank to consolidate its presence in areas that fall under its control and confiscate as much Palestinian lands as possible so as not to render them to the Palestinians in the final status negotiations.

 

Israel has systematically controlled the Palestinian territories to realize its colonization plan and settle their population in the occupied territory contrary to what the international law states. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 clearly states that ‘The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies‘. Also Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention clear that: ‘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.’ The appropriation and destruction of Palestinian land is an especially serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 147 of which clearly prohibits, ”extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.’’ Violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention Articles; constitutes grave breaches of the Convention and should accordingly be prosecuted as War Crimes.