The Demolition of Shelters and Animal Pens Owned by Al Rajabi Family west of Bani Na’eim Town

Violation: The demolition of two shelters housing 3 families and the demolition of an animal pen.
Date: The 21^st of July, 2010.

Details: Israeli occupation forces demolished on the 21^st of July, 2010 a house, an animal pen in addition to a container in the area of “Sanout” west of the town of Bani Na’eim in Hebron Governorate. The structures were owned by Al Rajabi family.

The owners of the structures indicated to the Land Research Center (LRC) that occupation forces besieged the area of their residence on the morning of the said day. They brought with them a bulldozer that was used to demolish the structures without delivering any prior stop work or demolition orders. Mr. Wa’el Al Rajabi said that the targeted structures were built 18 years ago and that Israeli occupation forces gave him a Stop Work Order under the pretext of building in Area C without a permit about a year ago. Mr. Al Rajabi, then, hired a lawyer in an effort to stop the demolition, yet to no avail.

The demolished structures are:

A house (area= 250 m²) which is owned by the brothers Wa’el and Noah Arafat Al Rajabi. The house was composed of a residential apartment (4 rooms, 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms) in addition to a storage place used for livestock rearing.

Photos 1+2: The debris of Al Rajabi family – BaniNa’eim

Mr. Wa’el has a family of 10 individuals 8 of which are children while Mr. Noah has a family of 9 of which 7 are children.

The demolition of a container in which the third brother, Mr. Nizam Arafat Al Rajabi, used to live in along with his 8-member family 6 of which are children.

Photo 3: The demolished container.

The demolition of an animal pen (area = 120 m²) owned by the three brothers and was used to raise livestock.

Photo 4: The demolished animal pen.

The affected brothers indicated that the Israeli bulldozer demolished the structures atop the furniture and food materials as the owners were not allowed to remove any of their belongings before the demolition has taken place. The demolition left 27 Palestinians homeless the majority of which are children. Currently, the affected families are living in old cars while the family of Mr. Noah Al Rajabi moved some of their belongings and placed it atop a cistern close to the original demolition location. Upon the visit of LRC’s field researcher to the site of the demolition, he was told that a number of children from Noah’s family were taken to the hospital after a long night without a shelter. The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has already supplied the families with tents.

Photo 5 & Photo 6: The new “shelter” of Al Rajabi family.

It is worth pointing out that Israeli occupation forces have also threatened to demolish the cistern owned by the family as it gave a Stop Work order to Mr. Wa’el Al Rajabi on the same day of the demolition. The cistern was used to meet the irrigation and drinking needs of the family. Al Rajabi family has been living in its lands in the area of “Sanutt” which overlooks Road 60. The family’s main source of income is raising livestock.