- Violation: serving a land grab order
- Location: Beit Ummar village- Hebron
- Date: December 26, 2015
- Perpetrators: the Israeli occupation forces
- Victims: the residents of the village
Details:
The Israeli occupation authorities served on December 26, 2015 a military order to seize a plot in the Hebron village of Beit Ummar on the claim of building a “buffer wall”.
According to Beit Ummar municipality, a massive force from the occupation army raided the area of Wad Al-Sheikh, southeast of the village and left the military order next to the bypass road number 60, which as matter of fact is adjacent to the targeted plot. The force pointed out some geometric marks that show the route of the wall.
Photo1: the metal checkpoint set up by the occupation
The “Seizure of plots number 15/13/MD” order was served in Arabic and English with an aerial photo explaining the location of the new security wall. Noteworthy, the order targeted lands with an area of 313 dunums.
The military order of seizure
The order mentioned the establishment of a security wall on the claim of “Security Purposes”. Also, the Arabic version of the order gave the affected owners of lands the right to object to the order within a five day deadline where the Hebrew version gave them until December 30, 2015.
The order was proved effective since the day of signing it on July 02, 2015 until February 06, 2016, taking into account that the residents of Beit Ummar received the order on December 26, 2015.
The aerial photo showed that the security wall will be of two segments (42m and 39m). If implemented, the wall will isolate three houses belonging to Al-Alami and Sabaranah families and will destroy some agricultural lands founded nearby the houses.
Photo 2: the to-be-isolated houses by the wall
Photo 3: the geometric marks set up by the occupation
About Beit Ummar:
It is located 12 km to Hebron city. The village's total area is 21,285 dunums, of which 1,375 dunums are considered the built-up area; around 13, 548 people inhabit Beit Ummar.
The Israeli occupation authorities confiscated 560 dunums from Beit Ummar for the favor of the bypass road no.60. The occupation also confiscated 1,216 dunums for the favor of the following colonies:
| Colony | Year of establishment | Dunums confiscated from Beit Ummar | Built-up areadunums | No. of colonists |
| Karmei Zur | 1984 | 179 | 289 | 623 |
| Migdal Oz | 1977 | 682 | 1,076.40 | 298 |
| Kfar Etzion | 1976 | 18.6 | 923.5 | 404 |
| Efrat | 1979 | 98.6 | 2,063.60 | 7,037 |
| Alon Shevut | 1971 | 237.8 | 934 | 3,146 |
| Total | 1216 | 5,286.50 | 11,508 | |
Source: Geographic Information System- Monitoring Israeli Violations Team- Land Research Center
Noteworthy, the entrance of Beit Ummar is blocked by a checkpoint and a military watchtower. The presence of Israeli soldiers hinders the movement of locals going in and out the village.
Some International conventions and Humanitarian laws pertaining to attacks on land and natural resources are:
Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights States:
"All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence."
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
