Sa’ir is a Palestinian village located northeast of Hebron Governorate. It is bordered by Shamleit Al- Hawa community form the north, Al-‘Deisa and Al-Shyoukh villages from the south and southwest, Halhoul town form the west and the illegal Israeli settlements of Mitsad Shim ‘on (Est. in 1991) and Asfar “Mitsad” (est. in 1984) form the east.
The built-up area of Sa’ir village spreads on 4230 dunums of land, about 4 % of the village’s total land area (107,773 dunums). The village is home to 17,135 inhabitants (PCBS 2010), most of who work in the agricultural sector, which is considered the major source of income for the residents of the village.
Demolition Orders for Eight Houses
On August 18, 2011, the Israeli Occupation Army handed over eight Palestinian residents from Sa’ir village northeast of the city of Hebron demolition orders notifying them that their houses (caravans and barracks) will be demolished under the pretext of lacking building permits and for the proximity of the houses to the Illegal Israeli settlements of Mitsad Shim ‘on and Asfar (Mitsad) and the Israeli military base “Mikedem”. The demolition orders issued by the Israeli Civil Administration (the administrative and managerial body of the Israeli Army) held numbers: 145313-145314-145315. The owners of the threatened houses are:
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Fadel Mohammad Shalaldeh
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Jamil Mohammad Shalaldeh
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Yousif Hamed Shalaldeh
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Ahmad Issa Shalaldeh
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Ahmad Abdel Rahim Shalaldeh
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Mousa Mohammad Shalaldeh
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Abdel Halim Abdel Hamid Shalaldeh
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Khalil Taleb Shalaldeh
See the photocopies of the military demolition orders below:
Dem. Order 1
Dem .Order 2
Dem. Order 3
Photocopies for part of the military demolition orders in Sa’ir
Mr. Mohammad Shalaldeh from Sa’ir Municipality indicated to ARIJ that the threatened houses are located in an area adjacent to the Israeli settlements of Mitsad Shim ‘on and Asfar (Mitsad) in addition to “Mikedem” military base, and accordingly the residents of these houses have been subjected repeatedly to an Israeli colonial activities which aims to evacuate them from their own lands. In September of 2005, the Israeli Custodian of State Property at the Israeli Civil Administration coordinated the issuance of three Israeli military orders issued holding numbers 602,603,604 to seize the land where the threatened houses are located. Later on the owners of the targeted lands submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme court which issued on its part an order for the Israeli Army to release the lands as the owners proved their ownership of the lands. See the map and the photocopies of the military orders below:
Map of the locations of the threatened houses and Targeted lands by the military orders
State Land Order 1
State Land Order 2
State Land Order 3
Photocopies for the military order issued In September 2005
Moreover, Mr. Shalaldeh added that one month ago (in July), Israeli settlers from the aforementioned settlements had forcibly seized 50 dunums of lands adjacent to the two settlements owned by residents from Sa’ir, after which the settlers rounded the grabbed land with fence, and started to cultivate it as if it was their own.
Conclusion
The systematic targeting of the Palestinian lands and properties by the Israeli Army or/ and by the Israeli settlers constitute a grave breach of the International law rules and conventions and reflects the Israeli intention to forcibly displace the Palestinian residents from their lands to pave the way for the settlements to expand and flourish on the expense of the Palestinian lands throughout the oPt.
These unjustified, Illegal, colonial, practices carried out by the Israeli Occupation Army has unlimited support from the Israeli government, which is still part of the peace process but clearly continue to violate the international laws; of which, the Universal Declaration of human rights, the International covenants as well as the rules of International Humanitarian Law.
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Article 2 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads that: ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it is independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.’
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Article 3 states that ‘everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person’.
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Article 13 states also that ‘(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.’
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Article 25 states that ‘(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.’
In addition, the Israeli colonial practices violate:
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Hague Convention IV (18 October 1907): Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land: Article (23): ‘To destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;’
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Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949, Article 53: 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 necessary by military operations
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