The Israeli Occupation Forces set up a metal gate at Abda village entrance

Violation: setting up a metal gate

Date: December 07, 2017

Location: Abda village- Hebron governorate

Perpetrators:  the Israeli Occupation Forces

Victims: Palestinian citizens

Details:

The Israeli Occupation Forces set up on December 07, 2017 a metal gate at the entrance of Abda village, south Dura town in Hebron governorate as a step of closure.

Eyewitnesses said that a vehicle arrived to the location with a force from the occupation army and installed the gate at the entrance. Reportedly, this step aims at restricting Palestinians' movement on daily basis.

Photos 1-2: the new metal gate

It should be noted that the entrance is considered a linking point between the bypass road number 60 and other villages and towns neighboring Abda. More than 15,000 residents of neighboring areas will be affected due to the closure. They will have to take substitute road that cost more and are more fatiguing to reach their daily destinations.

Reportedly, the occupation forces closed the entrance of the village many times through earth mounds and road blocks but this is the first time they use metal gates.

Israeli Occupation Forces set up the metal gates in a step to harass and restrict movement of Palestinians in Hebron governorate. It should be marked that the metal gates came in place of dirt mounds and cement blocks, which were previously used to seal off the entrances .They seek to control gates at all times. By one solider at the gate, closure became easier than setting up cement blocks. In case of reinforcing the closure, the occupation sets up dirt mounds to ban Palestinian from bypassing the gate.

The following table illustrates the locations of metal gates in Hebron :

Source : Field observation- Department of Monitoring Israeli Violations- Land Research Center-2017

Land Research Center sees the closure as a restriction to the right to movement and that it contradicts all international conventions of related  such like :

The Universal Declaration of Human rights1948:

• Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

• Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

• Article 13:
• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

• Article 7 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
•  Article 9 recognizes the rights to liberty and security of the person. It prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, requires any deprivation of liberty to be according to law, and obliges parties to allow those deprived of their liberty to challenge their imprisonment through the courts

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC