Halt of work order on residential and agricultural facilities in Barta’a town / Jenin governorate

• Violation: Halt of work order on facilities.
• Location: Barta’a town / Jenin governorate.
• Date: 18/09/2019.
• Perpetrator: The Israeli occupation building and organization department in the Civil Administration.
• Victims: 10 families from the town.

Description:

The Israeli occupation keeps targeting the Palestinian right to Land and Housing in Barta’a town which is isolated behind the Apartheid wall.

Even though Palestinians in Barta’a have ownership deeds , the Israeli occupation imposes impossible restrictions on constructions.

In Wednesday, September 18 , 2019 , The Israeli occupation building and organization committee distributed new halt of work notices on number of Palestinian structures and plots , on the pretext of working without licenses in C area , most of the threatened structures are built in the southern area of the village , within the area suggested for expanding the organizational plan.

As mentioned in the military order, the occupation set November 3^rd , for the building and organization committee in “Beit El” court to decide the fate of the structure.

The following table shows more information about the damages:

Source: Firsthand field observation – Israeli violations monitoring section- Land Research Center, September 2019

Noteworthy, The Israel occupation authorities until the day of this report, had issued about (274) military orders against structures and facilities in Barta’a, in addition to demolishing 29 facilities , on the pretext of building in C area according to Oslo accords without licenses.

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.

Barta’a ash Sharqiya:[1]

Barta’a is located 3 km away to the northwest of Jenin City. It is surrounded by ‘Ara and ‘Ar’ara (north- behind the green line), Barta’a Al-Gharbiya and Umm Al-Qatef inside the green line (west) , Khirbet Abdullah Al-Younis and Umm Al-Rihan (east) and Qaffin and Dhohor Al-‘Abed (south).

Barta’a has a total population of 4,792 people , until 2017 censis.

Barta’a has a total area of 9988 dunums of whichy 701 dunums are a built up area for the village.

1- Israeli settlements devoured about (413) dunums for the following purposes:

2- Bypass 596 and 611 devoured (437) dunums.

3- The apartheid wall is (1769 m) , devoured 2 dunums , and isolated the whole village.

Oslo accords divided the town lands as the following:

• B area : (645) dunums.
• C area (9343) dunums.

Noteworthy, Land Research Member documented Israeli violations against the village of Barta’a, the following are some of them between (2018 – 2019):

• In 25/02/2019 , the Israeli occupation forces uprooted 155 olive saplings of Barta’a Ash-Sharqiya town lands / Jenin Governorate (Arabic , English).
• In 07/11/2018, Demolishing of a barracks and retaining walls – Barta’a and Dhaher Al-Malih southwest Jenin (Arabic , English)
• In 29/08/2018 , dozens of halt of work orders on 17 residential and commercial facilities in Barta’a / Jenin (Arabic , English).
• In 21/ 06/2018 , the Israeli occupation demolishes parts of prisoner Ala’a Qabha in Barta’a / Jenin governorate (Arabic, English).
• In 04/ 04/2018 , confiscating kiosks close to Barta’a check point / Jenin governorate (Arabic , English).

[1] GIS-LRC

Prepared by

 The Land Research Center
LRC