A group of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers, squatting on Palestinian lands in direct violation of International Law, bulldozed a large area of Palestinian lands near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, to prepare for a new segregated road.
Eyewitnesses said the colonists, accompanied by a large number of Israeli soldiers invaded and uprooted the Palestinian lands in Doura town, south of Hebron.
They added that the colonists drove large machines, including bulldozers and started uprooting the lands, owned by members of Sweity and Jadallah Palestinian families.
The colonists are apparently preparing for a new road to link with their illegal colony, Negohot, which was built on private Palestinian lands.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all related international treaties.
Article 49 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
In its additional Protocol, Article 85(4) of 1977 states that ““the transfer by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a grave breach of the Protocol.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute of 1988, Article 8(2)(b)(viii) states that “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.”
Also on May 5, IMEMC news, an independent website in Palestine reported Israeli authorities in the internationally-recognized occupied West Bank, reportedly handed over demolition warrants to a number of Palestinian households, ahead of the demolition of their homes.
Their homes are located at the entrance of the village, just one kilometer away from the Israeli Apartheid Wall, which takes up 80 percent of the village’s farm lands.
In the meantime, Israeli authorities in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin, were reportedly handed demolition warrants to local residents in Ya’bad village, on the outskirts of the city.
Mayor of Ya’bad, Mr. Tareq Ammarna, told media outlets earlier Tuesday that Israeli troops, including infantry and armored vehicles broke in to the home of Bassam Ammarna and handed him a demolition warrant for his 220-square-meter home.
The mayor noted that the Israeli troops told Bassam that his home was built without permission by the Israeli authorities.
The home is located just near the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the area.
Noteworthy, it is a common occurrence that the Israeli occupation authorities demolish Palestinian’s homes, adjacent to the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall, surrounding the West Bank.
Meanwhile the country is still in lockdown restrictions and many activities are banned to limit Covid19 spread. One should ask in this situation when demolition of the houses can increase the spread of the virus, how these contradictory acts can be justified by the government.
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