- Violation: serving stop-work orders
- Location: Beit Awwa- Hebron governorate
- Date: September 21, 2016
- Perpetrators: High Planning Council- Israel Civil Administration
- Victims: Masalmeh family
Details:
Israeli Occupation Authorities notified on September 21, 2016 four residences of Stop-Work on the claim of "unlicensed construction" in the Hebron town of Beit Awwa. Affected people asserted that a vehicle relative to Israel Civil Administration accompanied by an army patrol raided the area known as "Um Hadhwa", east of the town, issued the orders, hanged them on the walls of the target houses and took some photos before the force withdrew.
The orders mentioned that the structures were established without proper license. October 09, 2016 was assigned as the hearing session of the Inspection Sub-Committee- Israel Civil Administration in the Israeli court of Beit El colony to consider whether to demolish the structures or restore their original status.
The orders mentioned that the affected people may apply for a license but this doesn’t mean that the occupation government will grant them such licenses. The following table shows information about the affected people and their property:
|
No. |
Affected citizen |
Family |
Minors |
No. of floors |
Are\m2 |
Remarks |
No. of order |
Photo |
|
1 |
Ahmad Masalmeh |
8 |
6 |
2 |
240 |
Established in 2009 and is inhabited |
181287 |
|
|
2 |
Abdelfattah Masalmeh |
6 |
4 |
2 |
240 |
Established in 2010 and is inhabited |
||
|
3 |
Mohammad Masalmeh |
6 |
4 |
2 |
270 |
In the finishing phase. Works started in 2014 |
||
|
4 |
Tal'at Masalmeh |
5 |
3 |
1 |
100 |
In the finishing phase. Works started in 2014 |
It should be marked that the orders were served in synchronization with new colonial units being built in Negohot colony that is founded on confiscated lands from Beit Awwa.
Photo 5: expansion works on Negohot colony
At the legal level, the staff of field research at Land Research Center guided the affected citizens on how to prepare the legal file needed to obtain a building licenses. The center will follow up and direct the affected to human rights organization to object to the military orders.
In reality, the issue is not all about unlicensed construction than it is on the occupation’s intention to take over more lands in the area of their control (Area C according to Oslo Accords). The Israeli occupation considers such lands as a colonial reserve, which will be hard to negotiate on in any future agreements with Palestinians.
In a press conference, Israeli Minister of Economy Neftali Benet told journalist the following: “The Oslo era is almost over; a real epoch is getting introduced to Israel’s politics. It is time to vision an economic peace through increasing investments ,enhancing the lifestyle of Palestinians, applying the Israeli sovereignty on areas classified “C” according to Oslo Accords and giving residents of the those areas full Israeli citizenship”
About Beit Awwa:
Beit Awwa is located 17 km to the west of Hebron city and is edged by Deir Samit village from the north, occupied territories of 1948 from the west, Dura village from the east and Sikka and Tawas villages from the south. Its population mounts to 10,399 (2014 census) people. Beit Awwa's total land area is 22,428 dunums, of which1048 dunums are considered the village's built-up area.
Israeli colonies confiscated 152 dunums from Beit Awwa lands. Negohot colony that was established in 1982 confiscated around 112 dunums and is now home for 134 colonists. Also, Mirshalem colony confiscated 40 dunums from the village.
The apartheid wall is founded on 4061 meters from the area and was reported to confiscate 406 dunums and to isolate 380 other dunums behind its construction. The lands of Beit Awwa are classified according to Oslo Accords as the following:
- 11846 dunums (53%) are classified as area B
- 10582 dunums (47%) are classified as area C
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
