Israeli Occupation Forces destroy 43 duums in the Hebron town of Beit Ula

• Violation: destroying agricultural lands and confiscating trees
• Location:  Wad Al-Qalmoun- Beit Ula
• Date:  September 07, 2016
• Perpetrators: Israel Military Administration
• Victims:  Suliman and Ali AL-Adm

Details:

On September 07, 2016, Israeli Occupation Forces ravaged lands, uprooted trees and demolished water well in Beit Ula town, west Hebron governorate. It should be marked that Israel Military Administration accompanied by Israeli Occupation Forces and heavy machineries raided the area of Wad Al-Qalmoun, demolished  retaining walls, dumped dirt into water well and uprooted and confiscated olive trees.

The olive trees belong to the following people:

1. Suliman Al-Adm: Israeli Occupation Forces attacked his 20 dunum plot and demolished a retaining wall (800m) and a water well (120m³) founded in the area/

The following trees were uprooted from the plot :

Photos 1-4: sings of the ravaging act and trees uprooting

Photo 5: dirt dumped into the water well

2. Ali Al-Adm:  Israeli Occupation Forces uprooted 300 olive trees (6years) that were planted on a 20 dunum plot Ali owns. The uprooted trees were uploaded on a military truck and then moved to an unidentified place.
3. Bassam Al-Adm: Israeli Occupation Forces cut down and confiscated 40 olive trees (7 years).

It is reported that the aforementioned  lands were served an eviction order in 2011 on the claim of them being "State Lands". Despite that owners prepared legal files to object to the order in Israeli courts, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the lands and uprooted trees in there.

It should be marked that Israeli Occupation Forces seek, through declaring lands as "State Property", to ban Palestinian farmers from using their lands, which later get used for the favor of colonial expansion. Noteworthy, the Israeli stone crusher of Bin Arye overlooks the area from the southwest, where the apartheid wall is founded.

Photo 6: the stone crusher and the wall

For further information about the attack, please read the report issued by Land Research Center in that regard (LINK)

An overview of Beit Ula Town:

Beit Ula is located 14 km to the northwest of Hebron city; it has a total area of 24,000 dunums, most of which are classified as area “B” according to Oslo Accords. The town houses a total population of 13,000 Palestinians and is run by a municipal council that was elected in 2012.

The town is famous for olive and vegetable plantation in addition to metal manufacturing and stones factories.

Around 2000 dunums from the lands of Beit Ula were confiscated for the favor of the apartheid wall establishment in 2004. Over the past couple of years, the Israeli occupation authorities ravaged tens of agricultural dunums, uprooted thousands of trees, demolished five water cisterns and confiscated many agricultural equipments and tractors in the town. The Israeli government took the aforementioned measures to push Palestinian farmers to abandon their lands (classified as area C) but farmers never abandoned their lands and always tried to object confiscation and demolition orders in Israeli court.

Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with all the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:

•  Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
• Section ‹G› of article 23 of the (1907) The Hague Conventions asserting: “In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”
• Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention (1948) declaring: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”
• Section 1, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966): “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC