- Violation: Demolition of a house.
- Date: November 23rd 2021.
- Location: Ma’in – Yatta town / Hebron Governorate.
- Perpetrators: The Israeli Civil Administration.
- Victims: Citizen ‘Ali Hamamda.
- Description:
Tuesday, November 23rd 2021, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished house of citizen ‘Ali Hamamda, on the pretext of building without a license in Ma’in village south Yatta , Hebron Governorate.
Photos 1-4: Demolition operation for citizen ‘Ali Hamamda
The Occupation Demolished a citizen’s house that consists of two floors, with a total area of 220 m2, and built since 2020 of bricks and concrete, the house was supposed to be a home for a family of 8, 6 of them are children.
In March 4th 2021, the occupation authorities issued a notice of demolition and removal of the house, after 96 hours in reference to military order 1797 issued in 2018, the targets newly constructed buildings , or structures inhabited less than 30 days.
The house was also targeted with another notice entitled halt of destroying antiquities, the citizen assigned a lawyer to object on the notices, but the occupation court refused the objection and carried out the demolition.
Child Rayan Hamamda said: They demolished our house but may God compensate us
“On the doors of Ma’in school, I met child Rayan Hamamda (11) , the land owner’s son , he took us to the rubble of his house , and when we got there , the fifth grader ran to the house , and started explaining where did the excavator come from , and how did it level the house to the ground.”
Photo 5+6: Child Rayan Hamamda on the rubble of his house
Rayan pointed out: “In the early morning hors, as we were dressing up for school , we heard an excavator and the occupation forces entering Ma’in village. Our house had received a notice from the occupation authorities so knowing that Israeli machineries raided the area, We did not go to school that day, soon they arrived d to our house, and leveled it to the ground.”
Rayan was so happy to move to a new house and get his own room, before the occupation forces showed up and leveled the new house to the ground. The only thing that Rayan could hear from others is that: God will compensate them.
Legal Commentary:
The demolition of Palestinian homes and structures by the occupation authorities is part of their violations of international and humanitarian law, and the violation of the right to adequate housing for Palestinian citizens guaranteed by international law and international treaties presented by the following articles:
The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 147, stipulates that “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” is a “grave breach” of the Convention.
Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1948 prohibits the destruction of property, as this article states the following: “The occupying power is prohibited from destroying any private, fixed or movable property related to individuals or groups, the state or public authorities, or social or cooperative organizations, unless the war operations inevitably require this destruction.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.
Paragraph ‘g’ of Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 AD also warned against destroying or seizing the enemy’s property, unless the necessities of war necessarily require such destruction or seizure.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
