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FORTY-NINE DEMOLITION WARNINGS AGAINST HOUSES IN HEBRON

Saturday, August 01, 1998 4:31 PM

FORTY-NINE DEMOLITION WARNINGS AGAINST HOUSES IN HEBRON

1 August 1998

Over the last 4 months, Israeli authorities have issued 49 demolition

warnings against forty-four houses, four livestock coups and one well

in the West Bank town of Hebron. The demolition orders affect 250

individuals from the Jaber, Sultan, Rajabi, Qemari, Mannasra, Jaradat,

Salaymeh, Jabari, Najjada and Abu Subha families.

The orders follow the destruction by the Israeli army of 13 homes

owned by the Jaber, Attrash, Dahoud, Rajabi families. The Attrash home

has been demolished for the third time in less than 3 months as

Israeli authorities escalate the campaign of house demolitions in the

area of eastern and southern Yatta, the Baqa area, the Khalet al

Ashhab area east of Hebron and the Jaber neighborhood. These villages

lie close to the Kiryat Arba and Givat Harsina settlements.

Authorities have banned any form of construction in these areas and

recently confiscated 120 dunams (30 acres) from the Baqa area to

expand the Harsina settlement. Tens of dunums of agricultural land

have been closed to their owners and water supplies interrupted,

particularly those who live close to settler bypass road #60.

On 27 July 1998, the deadline imposed by the Israeli Authorities for

Fayez Jaber to demolish his own 80sq m home passed. Jaber's house will

now almost certainly be demolished and in addition, he will be fined

for the demolition costs. Jaber told LAW that there is nothing left

for him in life except for his family and house following an earlier

confiscation of his land. His land had covered an area of 30 dunams

and was used in the expansion of the Harsina settlement three months

ago.

The demolition of Palestinian homes can be seen as the final necessary

step to remove or limit the indigenous Palestinian population to

ensure continued Israeli control over Jerusalem and the West Bank

before the final status negotiations. Israel is attempting to cleanse

areas of the West Bank of a Palestinian presence in order to negotiate

over "empty" land near the settlements, the green line, and by-pass

roads.

LAW continues to condemn this policy in the strongest possible terms,

given the focused political nature of the demolitions and the attempt

to remove Palestinians from their land. LAW urges all those concerned

about the illegal Israeli policy of house demolitions to write to:

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (972) (2) 566 4838, Acting Minister

of Foreign Affairs Benyamin Netanyahu (972) (2) 530 3506, Defense

Minister Yitzhak Mordechai (972) (3) 691 6940, the Department of

Building and Planning for the Israeli Military Authorities of the West

Bank (972) (2) 997 7307. Electronic mail to: Prime Minister Benyamin

Netanyahu: pm@pmo.gov.il, the Office of the Prime Minister:

feedback@pmo.gov.il, the Israeli Government Press Office:

gpo@pmo.gov.il, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

ask@israel-info.gov.il.

_____________________________________________

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the protection of Human Rights and

the Environment is a Palestinian NGO dedicated to defending human

rights through legal advocacy. LAW is an affiliate of the

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Environmental Law

Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), and the International Federation of Human

Rights Leagues (FIDH).

LAW - the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights

and the Environment

PO Box 20873

Jerusalem, via Israel

Tel: (972) (2) 5812364/5824559

Fax: (972) (2) 5811072

email: law@lawsociety.org

web site: http://www.lawsociety.org