On February 25, 2012, the Israeli Occupation Army handed over Palestinian residents from Nahhalin village southwest of Bethlehem Governorate four military orders issued by the Israeli Custodian of State Property at the Israeli Civil Administration in the oPt issued on February 22, 2012 and hold numbers: 347 (8/12) – 342 (3/12) – 345 (6/12) – 346 (7/12). – – . – – .
According to the Israeli military orders, owners of the targeted lands have to evacuate their 54 dunums of lands within 45 days and remove all what exists on it, this includes but not limited to trees, infrastructure installations, or anything else, under the pretext that the lands are classified as “State Land.” See photocopy of the Israeli military orders
Photo 1-4: Photocopies of the military orders
Among the owners of the targeted lands, the followings were known:
- ‘Ayed Mohammad Abdel Fattah Abdel ‘Aziz.
- Khalid Mohammad Abdel Fattah Abdel Aziz.
- Khalil Hasan Abdel Fattah Abdel Aziz.
- Mohammad Hasan Abdel Fattah Abdel Aziz.
- Hasan Ismail Hasan Najajreh
- Na’eem Ahmad Mousa Najajreh
- Saleem ‘Ali Othman Najajreh
- Mohammad Ahmad Mousa Najajreh
- Daoud Bishara Nassar. See Map 1
Map 1: the targeted lands in Nahhalin Village
Nahhalin is one of the villages of Bethlehem Governorate, populated by 7,727 residents (PCBS 2012) and stands on a total area of 17,250 dunums. It is bordered by Husan village and the illegal Israeli settlement of Betar ‘Illit from the north, the illegal Israeli settlement of Rush Tzurim from the south, Artas village as well as the illegal Israeli settlement of Neve Daniel from the east, Al Jab’a village and the illegal Israeli settlement of Geva’ot from its west.
The Geopolitical Division of Nahhalin Village
According to the Oslo II Interim agreement of 1995, Nahhalin village lands, as well as the rest of the Palestinian Territory, were divided into areas A, B and C. In Area A, the Palestinian National Authority has complete autonomy over administrative and security issues, where in area B, Palestinians have full control over the civil administration and Israel continues to have overriding responsibility for security; while in Area C, Israel has full control over the security and administrative issues. Table 1 clarifies the classification of lands of Nahhalin village:
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Table 1: Classification of Nahhalin Lands According to Oslo II Interim Agreement of 1995
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Land Classification
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Area-Dunums
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%from the total Town lands
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Area A
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0
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0
|
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Area B
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1,132
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6.6
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Area C
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16,118
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93.4
|
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Total
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17,250
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100
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Source: ARIJ Database 2012
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The village of Nahhalin is surrounded from its four directions with a set of Israeli settlements, Rush Tzurim, Neve Daniel, Geva’ot and Betar ‘Illit, which were built on its lands and caused the confiscation of 1411 dunums (8.2%) of its total area (17250 dunums). See table 2
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Table 2: illegal Israeli Settlements Built on Nahalin Village Lands
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Settlement Name
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Establishment
Date
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Total area
of settlement
(Dunums)
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Population
(2009) |
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Rush Tzurim
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1969
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893
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364
|
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Neve Daniel
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1982
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584
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1600
|
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Giva’ot
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1984
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135
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44
|
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Betar ‘Illit
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1985
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4686
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29000
|
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Total
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*****
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6298
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31008
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Source: ARIJ Database 2012
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In addition, the construction of the Israeli Segregation Wall will put Nahhalin village along with six neighboring Palestinian communities (Battir, Husan, Wad Fukin, Al Jab’a, Khallet Al Balluta, Kherbit Beit Skariya and Khallet Afaneh) in an enclave and segregate them from the center of life in Bethlehem Governorate.
To Conclude
The Israel seizure of the Palestinian lands, regardless of the pretexts, is illegal and is no more than looting as much as possible from the Palestinian lands for the interest of the various Israeli colonial projects, where the confiscation of 54 dunums of lands in the village of Nahhalin constitutes a grave breach of the international law rules and conventions as follows:
- Article 53 & 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 indicated 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.
- Moreover Art. 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 also provides: 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.
- Also under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
