Residents of Beit Sahour receive new Israeli house demolition warnings

On January 28, 2007, the Israeli Occupation Army handed out 11 military notices to residents of the Orthodox Housing Complex project and Jabal Ad Dik area (east of Beit Sahour), 6 of which to demolish existing residential houses and 5 to stop ongoing constructions of residential buildings. A list of the names notified with military notices is listed in Table 1 below along with the names of the owners.

Table 1: List of Military Warnings and owners of the houses

Source: Beit Sahour Municipality, 2007

Copies of the Military orders

The reason for the demolition notices as stated in the Israeli Army's military orders, which they served to the residents is that the ongoing construction is carried out in area C and without permits from the District Coordination office (DCO) of Beit El in Ramallah; and even though the owners of these threatened houses have legal building permits issued from the municipality of Beit Sahour, being the official Licensing Authority for that area.  See Map 1

The January 28, 2007 orders comes in sequence of previously issued orders by the Israeli Army over the past years to residents of that same area using the same pretext over and over again.

Jabal Ad Deik (Ad Deik Mountain)

 Jabal Al Deik (Ad Deik Mountain) neighborhood lies northeast of Beit Sahour city on a hill adjacent to Har Homa settlement (Abu Ghneim Mountain).  The neighborhood has been a subject for constant harassments and abuse by the Israeli Army ever since plans and constructions of the Segregation Wall were revealed in 2002, which according to the plans, the Segregation Wall is routed to run in close proximity to Palestinian housing project (The Orthodox Housing Complex Project) in that area.

The Orthodox Housing Complex Project

The housing project was launched back in 1995, when the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate leased parts of its lands to residents and members of the Patriarchate in Beit Sahour, to help the residents battle the economic impediments forced on them by the Israeli occupation, including economic sanctions and on freedom of movement; by providing affordable housing units to help the limited income households in Beit Sahour community.

Chronology of previously Issued military orders in Beit Sahour City

May 2002,

Palestinian families living in the Orthodox Housing Project and in Jabal Al Deik area received military orders to immediately end construction on the buildings and demolish existing ones. The Israeli occupation Army issued the orders under the pretext of building without licenses from the Israeli Civil Administration, which still has complete control over Areas 'C'. The demolition warnings were served to residents of Beit Sahour at the time Israel was about to commence the construction of the Segregation Wall.

September 2002,

The Israeli Army issued yet another military notices to demolish 8 buildings at the Orthodox Housing Project and to other residential houses in Ad Deik Mountain (Jabal Al Deik) under the pretext that the buildings are too close to the route of Segregation Wall. 

May 2003,

The Israeli Army tacked new demolition notices on olive trees near the Orthodox Housing Project declaring the confiscation of 300 dunums (0.3 kmÃ�²) of lands located in close range of the housing project to create a security buffer zone in the area. 30 Dunums of the threatened land, are located in area ''A', which falls under the full Palestinian control according to the Oslo II Accord signed in 1995 between Palestinians and Israelis negotiators. 

October 2004,

The Israeli Army served another set of demolition notices to 16 Palestinian families living in Jabal Al Deik area located in close range of the Segregation Wall and Har Homa Settlement (Jabal Abu Ghneim), including a numberofPalestinian families living in Building # 9 of the Greek Orthodox Housing Project. See Table 2

Table 2: List of owners with the date the military orders. 

To Conclude   
The Israeli demolition process is based on an invalid pretext, which is building without a permit. These demolitions take place in Area C in the West Bank, where Israel retains administrative authority. It should be noted that the Israeli Army is recognized as an occupation Army, thus it lacks an authority on civilian concerns and any thing other than that based on military and only after it is justified; as stated in Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.  Article 53: 'Any destruction by the OccupyingPower of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively toprivate persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to socialor cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction isrendered absolutely necessary by military operations.'  Under international law, Israeli has no administrative civilian control over the territory it occupies, which means that the Israeli Army is not entitled to look into building license or any thing else for the matter. The demolition of Palestinian houses and the destruction of agricultural land cause extensive damage to the civilian population, which will bear the consequences for many years to come. 

Prepared by
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ