A New wave of Israeli House Demolitions in ‘Aqraba Village Southwest of Nablus city

On April 21^st, 2009, the Israeli Occupation Authorities handed over eight Palestinian families from Lafjam area in ‘Aqraba village southeast of Nablus city military orders notifying them that their houses will be demolished within 48 hours under the pretext of lacking valid building permits. The houses are located in areas classified by the Israelis as ‘closed military areas’ where no Palestinian building and land utilization is allowed. Below are the owners of threatened houses’ in ‘Aqraba Village:

1.     Jamil Mohammad Abdullah Bani Jaber.

2.     Zeid Mahmud Qasem Bani Jaber.

3.     Khalil Rabee’ Bani Jaber.

4.     Firas Khalil Rabee’ Bani Jaber.

5.     Abdullah Abdel ‘Ghani Bani Jaber

6.     Ghallab Ibrahim Muhammad Mayadmah.

7.     Mohammad Ibrahim Mohammad Mayadmah.

8.     Wasef Ibrahim Mohammad Mayadmah.

 

 

 

In less than 24 hours, the Israeli bulldozers backed by the Israeli Occupation forces staged into the village on the 22ed of April 2009 and demolished five of the threatened houses without giving their owners the chance to salvage their properties.  The five demolished houses are owned by:

1.     Jamil Mohammad Abdullah Bani Jaber.

2.     Zeid Mahmud Qasem Bani Jaber.

3.     Khalil Rabee’ Bani Jaber.

4.     Firas Khalil Rabee’ Bani Jaber.

5.     Abdullah Abdel ‘Ghani Bani Jaber.

The remaining three threatened houses which are owned by Ghallab Ibrahim Muhammad Mayadmah, Mohammad Ibrahim Mohammad Mayadmah and Wasef Ibrahim Mohammad Mayadmah were evacuated and moved to another area in the village to avoid demolition.   

 

Earlier on November 11^th, 2008, the Israeli planning and construction personnel affiliated to the Israeli Civil administration handed over 18 military warnings ordering an immediate halt of construction of a number of Palestinian houses and agricultural structures in Khirbet at Tawil to the east of Aqraba village southeast of Nablus city. The halt-of-construction warnings were issued under the pretext that the targeted structures are located in Area classified as ‘C’ and lack valid building permits from the Israeli Civil Administration. See table 1 for a list of names and a description of the threatened structures:-

Table 1: List of owners’ names and description of the threatened structure
No.	Name	Description of  structure
1	Maher Anas Bani Fadel	Barracks
2	Usama Anas Bani Fadel	Barracks
3	Sidqi Saleh Bani Fadel	A one floor house
4	Mohammed Sidqi Bani Fadel	Barracks
5	Akef Wasif Bani Fadel	Barracks
6	Attiya Fahmi Bani Fadel	A two floor house
7	Mohammed Khader Bani Fadel	Barracks
8	Fath Allah Yusif Bani Miniya	A two floor house
9	Anwar Sidqi Saleh Bani  Fadel	Barracks
10	Yusif Naser Allah Bani Fadel	Barracks
11	Zahi Hussein Bani Jaber	Barracks
12	Samer Hueein Bani Jaber	Barracks
13	Radwan Isa Bani Miniya	Barracks
14	Samih Ahmad Bani Miniya	A one floor house
15	Jamil Ghazi Bani Fadel	Barracks
16	—	Khirbet at Tawil mosque
17	—	Health centre
18	—	Electric power station

Later on March 7, 2009, the Israeli Occupation Authorities handed over citizens of Khirbet Al Tawil halt of Construction orders against 5 structures (residential structures, agricultural structures, and animal pens) and a Mosque in the hamlet under the pretext of lacking valid building permits. These orders increased the number of threatened houses in At Tawil Hamlet into 24. See Table 2 for a list of the threatened houses

Table 2: list of names of the threatened houses
Name	Stop Work Orders	Type of Structure	Area in m2
Basem Saleem Bani Jaber	143203	Agricultural room	6
	143201	Agricultural brux	24
	143204	Water cistern	Capacity 60 m3
Mohammad Adnan Rashayda	143205	Agricultural room	8
	143202	Agricultural brux	36
The mosque of Khirbet Al Tawil		The only mosque in the Khirbet	60
TOTAL			134

Source: LRC Database 2009 

 

                                   

Local residents of ‘Aqraba village are suffering from the Israeli colonial practices carried out either at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Army or the Israeli settlers, especially those living in the nearby settlements, Itamar  , which was illegally established on lands of ‘Aqraba in 1984 and houses today a total population of 660 Israeli settlers. Of these harassments, on September 27, 2008, an 18-years old boy called Attiya Bani Minya was killed at the hands of Israeli settlers while he was herding his sheep in Houd Al Fajam area, about 10 kilometers east of ‘Aqraba village. Attiya was found dead in the nearby Valley with more than 20 bullets penetrated his body.

 

Furthermore, it wasn’t the first time that a herder from ‘Aqraba village was killed at the hands of Israeli settlers; in early 2006, farmer Mohammad Hamdan Bani Jaber was killed in the area of Al ‘Arama located 9 kilometers west of the village of ‘Aqraba and about half a kilometer away from Itamar Settlement. He was herding his sheep when settlers shot him to death. See Map Below:-

 

The village of ‘Aqraba is located some 18 kilometers to the southeast of Nablus city; It is bordered by Ad Dawa Village from its northeastern side, the village of Jourish and the settlement of Migdalim from its southern and southwestern sides, The village of Osrin from the west and Tel Al Khashab Hamlet from its southeastern side.

 

The urban area of the village stands on 1094 dunums of land, about 0.75% of the village’s total land area and is a home to 9537 inhabitants (PCBS 2009), most of who tended to work in Agriculture after loosing their jobs as constructional workers inside Israel following the eruption of the second Intifada in September 2000. Today, the village of ‘Aqraba stands on 146,448 dunums of land.

 

Land Classification of ‘Aqraba Village Lands:–

In the Oslo II Interim Agreement that was signed in September 1995 between the Palestinians and Israelis, the Palestinian areas in the West Bank were classified into three areas A, B and C which aimed at a phased withdrawal of the Israeli military forces from these areas until the accomplishment of a final status agreement.

 

Accordingly, the 14794 dunums of ‘Aqraba Village were classified to areas B and C; 14535 Dunums of which were classified as Area B (9.9 % of the total village area) where most of the built up area is concentrated; while the remaining area of the village, a total of 131913 dunums of ‘Aqraba village lands were classified as Area C (90.1 % of the total village area) and contain all the agricultural lands and the open spaces in the village. See Table 3

 

Table 3: Classification of Lands in ‘Aqraba village  according to Oslo II Agreement of 1995
Classification of Area	Area in dunums	% of the Village’s total area
Area A	0	0
Area B	14535	9.9
Area C	131913	90.1
Total Area	146448	100
ARIJ GIS Database – 2009

 

 

Following Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, the successive Israeli Governments adopted a policy of land confiscation for the various Israeli purposes which were mostly exemplified in the establishment of Settlements, bypass Roads and military bases. Accordingly, the village of ‘Aqraba witnessed the confiscation of its lands for the establishment of five Israeli settlements which stand on 5939 dunums, 4.1% of the village’s total land area. The settlements are a home to more than 1250 Israeli settlers as illustrated in Table 4 below

Table 4: Israeli Settlements in Aqraba Village Boundary
Israeli Settlement	Date of Establishment	Population 2007	Israeli Built-up Area
			Total Area 2006 in Dunum
Massu’a	1970	150	46
Yafit	1980	119	1436
Peza’el (Fezael)	1972	242	1266
Tomer	1978	301	1031
Gilgal	1970	193	930
Netiv HaGedud	1975	145	458
Gittit	1973	237	772
Total Area		1387	5939

Adequate housing is one of the basic needs and rights of each person, where ‘the right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man and child to a place to live in security and dignity.’ In the occupied Palestinian territory, Israel as an occupier should abide by the international human rights treaties to which it is a state party including: The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,. As an occupier Israel should also abide by the international humanitarian law including: The Hague Regulations and the Forth Geneva Convention. The demolition of houses in ‘Aqraba village would be a stark violation of these rights and covenants. Israel should be held accountable for its acts the Occupied Palestinian Territory; should comply with the international legitimacy, laws treaties and United Nations’ resolutions; and Israel’s long time apathy of the international community’s wills must come to an end.

 

Following is a synopsis of Articles within these covenants, conventions and laws that address the issue of house demolitions and forced evictions under these articles:

 

1.     ‘Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.’

2.     ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’

 

1.     ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.’

 

Chapter 7.6: ‘Access to safe and healthy shelter is essential to a person’s physical, psychological, social and economic well-being and should be a fundamental part of national and international action. The right to adequate housing as a basic human right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Despite this, it is estimated that at the present time, at least one billion people do not have access to safe and healthy shelter and that if appropriate action is not taken, this number will increase dramatically by the end of the century and beyond.’

 

‘People should be protected by law against unfair eviction from their homes or land’.

Itamar settlement was established in the year 1984 on an area of 3097 dunums of lands confiscated from the towns and villages of ‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Al Yanoon and Rujeib in addition to the village of ‘Akraba.