Israeli Occupation Demolishes Structures in Haris village / Salfit governorate

• Violation: Demolishing shops.
• Location: Haris village/ west Salfit.
• Date: July 12^th 2021.
• Perpetrators: The construction inspector at the Israeli Civil Administration.
• Victims: Number of families at the area.

Description:

The Israeli Occupation Forces accompanied by the building inspector at the Israeli Civil Administration raided Haris village on Monday, July 12^th 2021, accompanied by three massive bulldozers they carried on destroying 8 shops and workshops at the area on the pretext of building without a license, the owners were not given the chance to take their properties out.

The following table shows more information about the targeted facilities:

Source: Firsthand field observation- Israeli Violations Monitoring section – Land Research Center , July 2021

Photos 1-6: The demolition operation

One of the victims, Nadi Kulaib told LRC the following:

“The targeted facilities were demolished twice in 2019. However, the demolition was implemented based on a military order issued in November 2017, the financial loss after the demolition operation mounted to 200 thousand shekels.

The targeted workshops provide Job opportunities and a source of income for 8 families’ providers, the demolition consequently affected a large group of people.

At the moment we received the demolition notices, we initiated the licensing procedures , but the Israeli Occupation refused on the pretext that the structures are nearby route 505, we lost our source of income and we are struggling now under new Israeli arbitrary measures.

Photos 7 – 8 : The targeted facility

About Haris:[1]

7 km to the northwest of Salfit governorate, Haris is located with a total land area of 8769 dunum, of which 190 dunums are the village’s built-up area. Haris is surrounded by the villages of Deir Istiya from the north, Kifl Haris from the east, Kfar ad-Dik and Bruqin from the southwest and Qarawat Bani Hassan from the west.

It has a total population of 3740 people according to the census of Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for 2009. Those people hail from the following families: Abu Atta, Dawoud, Salamih, Sultan, Shihada, Souf, Faz’, Awwad, Qasim, and Klaib. The Israeli occupation confiscated 3631 dunums from the village as follows :

1. Israeli colonies confiscated 2672 dunums as detailed in the below table 
2. 726 dunums were confiscated to open the bypass roads numbers ( 505, 4765, 5506)
3. The apartheid wall confiscated 233 dunums for its establishment. Upon its completion, the wall will isolate 7135 dunums

According to Oslo Accords, the lands of Haris are classified as follows:

• 631 dunums are classified as area “B”
• 7815 dunums are classified as area “C”
• Legal commentary:
• Israeli policies in demolishing Palestinian facilities and constructions are a violation of basic human rights guaranteed by international conventions like the following articles:
• Article 147 of Geneva fourth convention: extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. ( it is considered a serious violation of the convention)
• Article 53 of Geneva fourth convention that forbids destroying properties: 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 co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
• Article 33 of Geneva fourth convention:No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.
• Article 32 of Hague convention 1907 part g:To destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.
• Article 17 of Universal declaration of human rights 10 –Dec- 1948:No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

[1] GIS-LRC