Since 1967, the
Israeli authorities have demolished approximately 25,000 Palestinian homes in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. This includes
demolitions to allow for the expansion of Israeli settlements and settlement
farms, the construction of the Annexation Wall and settler-only roads, closed
military zones, military training areas, nature reserves, and punitive
demolitions that amount to collective punishment, which is considered a war
crime under international law.
Widespread destruction of property not justified
by absolute military necessity also amounts to a war crime and entails the
breach of a number of human rights provisions, including the right to adequate
housing and family.
According to
Al-Haq documentation, Israel demolished 368 Palestinian-owned structures in the
West Bank in 2012, including 44 in East Jerusalem. Demolitions in the first
month of 2013 increased by almost 30 per cent compared to the same period last
year (from 34 in January 2012 to 44 in January 2013).
Countless
Palestinian homes are demolished by the Israeli military under the spurious
justification of lack of building permit. Given that such demolitions are
neither carried out in the name of strict military necessity or for the benefit
of the occupied population, they constitute a clear violation of international
humanitarian law.
In this regard, the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination last year harshly criticized
Israel’s “discriminatory planning policy” which rarely, if ever, grants
construction permits to Palestinian communities.
There is no such
restriction placed upon Israeli settlement construction across the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. At least 6,676 new settlement housing units in the
West Bank were approved for construction in 2012 by the Israeli authorities,
who have already granted approval to hundreds more units this year.
This short video
produced by Al-Haq’s Monitoring and Documentation Department gives voice to
Muhammad Usamah Taha, whose workshop and house were demolished by the Israeli
authorities without prior warning, destroying his only source of livelihood and
many of his possessions. Unfortunately, Muhammad’s experience is one shared by
thousands of Palestinian families across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If your comment is not posted, it was deemed offensive.