24th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm Team | Jin Safoot, occupied Palestine
In the early morning, 18th January, hundreds of Israeli soldiers entered the Jin Safoot village to demolish a farmhouse belonging to the Palestinian farmer Faed. The barn was serving as a shelter for his animals and he wasn’t allowed to remove all of them before the Israelis demolished the roof. Faed claims that two of his sheep died after being smashed underneath the falling roof.
The destroyed farm house. Photo credit: ISM
Faed in front of his barn. Photo credit: ISM
Israeli soldiers shot two of the family members while they were trying to stop the ongoing demolition. One of them was hit by a live bullet in his left hand and the family now fears that he won’t regain full strength in one of his fingers. Another family member was peppersprayed and arrested on the scene. He is now being imprisoned in a Israeli military base in Huwwara, West Bank.
Faed and his son who was shot in his hand. They are standing on top of the house the IOF demolished in 2007. Photo credit: ISM
Faed’s farm is located in Area C. Roughly 60% of the West Bank is under complete Israeli control since the Oslo accords in 1990’s. To be allowed to build a house in Area C you have to get a permission from the Israeli authorities. These requests are often denied and at the same time farmers are likely to face demolition if they construct a building without Israeli permission. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, the Israeli Civil Administration denied 94% of the applications between 2000 and 2007.
In 2007 Israeli soldiers demolished another building belonging to Faed, also located in Area C. For the six previous years Faed has worked hard to build a new home for him and his family and the destruction came as a shock. The recent destruction of his farm house is yet another setback for him, mentally as well as financially. To be able to rebuild his barn he now has to sell parts of his land. If he does rebuild, it would still be under constant threat of Israeli destruction.
At 6 am on 14th January 2016 the Israeli occupation army entered Tubas area, with twelve jeeps and two bulldozers, destroying four shelters and a water tank.
In December 2015 the army gave the order for demolition of the shelters, obliging the owners to restore the land to the condition it was in before the construction, within the following 45 days. While the court process was ongoing and the deadline has not expired yet, the army raided the area and destroyed the shelters. Two of the four shelters were owned by Ali ‘Amabusi and Mahmoud Alidib Mashamani, both of them living in Tubas.
Military forces claimed the area as closed military area, but by law they are not permitted to enter Tubas and give demolition orders as it is Area A under the Oslo accords, and therefore under full control of Palestinian Authority.
In the morning a water tank was also destroyed. It was supplying water to the village of Yarza. The demolition left 100 people without water and with them farms and plantations, which are the main economy of the families.
The water tank was built with the fund of the Italian Christian Solidarity and the volunteers of Jordan Valley Solidarity in 2013-2014. Its purpose was a development project for the area, allowing people to return and help the ones who don’t have access to the water to grow plants and animals.
The water was provided from the city of Tubas and the village of Alibkea, but the pipe going from the tank to the village of Yarza was previously confiscated by the occupation army 8 months ago.
Israeli forces raid area with bulldozers to demolish shelters and destroy water tank.
8th of December 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm Team | Kafa district, occupied Palestine
Settlers from the nearby settlements and soldiers watched the scene
On Tuesday, Israeli forces entered the village of Kafa in the outskirts of occupied Tulkarm. Within a few hours, they uprooted over 150 olive trees, 30 lemon trees and demolished four greenhouses from the land of the Esmail family. Even though this land has been owned by the family for multiple generations, Israel has declared it state property. “They didn’t just cause a loss of income, they also attacked my culture and my heritage”, says Munir Fathi Esmail, owner of the land.
The farmers were harvesting tomatoes inside one of the greenhouses when the Israeli forces entered the farm with bulldozers. The army didn’t give any notice for their intervention. The operation was covered by 12 soldiers from the israeli army and 4 men from the Isreali border police. Palestinians witnessing the demolition suspected that some of the armed Israeli civilians that assisted during the destruction were from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Avnei Hefetz, located just a few kilometers away. One of the armed settlers was instructing the bulldozer where to go, and telling the international human rights activists that where present to back off.
Israeli forces uprooted trees with a bulldozer
Munir explained that even though he will be able to buy new greenhouses, the economic loss resulting to the uprooting would be severe. “I will be dead before the new trees will be old and strong enough to give the same amount of harvest”, he stated.
The destruction of farmland, wich is illegal under international law, is just one form of oppression that the Palestinian farmers are facing. This farm, like most other agricultural areas in the West Bank is located in Area C, as 60% of the West Bank, fully controlled by the Israeli authorities. For Palestinian farmers in area C, this means harsh restrictions of movement, sometimes not being allowed access to their lands as well as not being allowed to build new constructions. Israel uses these methods as a way to get Palestinian farmers to leave their land, in order to give more room for expanding settlements. But Munir Fathi Esmail is determined to stay : “I will plant new trees, and I will never leave my land.”
December 3rd, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara team | Nablus, occupied Palestine
Wednesday night, at 1 am, Israeli forces came to the neighborhood of Dahia, in Nablus, to demolish the house of the family of Raghib Elawi, who was accused of participating in the Itamar killings a month ago. Local witnesses say that around 300 jeeps entered Dahia and its surrounding areas to seal the area. Soldiers came in great number and started evacuating the neighboring houses at 1:30 am. They forced men, women and children out of their homes in the middle of the night with their guns pointed at them. Women complained that soldiers entered the houses without minding them not wearing their hijab, before being rushed out of their houses at gunpoint. All the families had to sit down and wait outside, in the cold, without talking. At around 4 am, the home of Raghib was demolished using explosives.
Elawi house: 1st floor belonging to Raghib and his brother and buttom floor belonging to their parents.
The apartment of Raghib Elawi’s family is located on a four floor building, the two top ones still being under construction and not inhabited. Raghib’s apartment had been emptied when they received the warning for the demolition two days ago. Next to Raghib’s apartment was the home of his brother, living with his wife and three daughters. They had moved the furniture to the side to avoid it from being damaged from the explosion but the wall between the two brother’s apartments collapsed during the demolition, making both places inhabitable. Two families including 6 children now find themselves homeless. All of them are currently staying at a brother’s house, a very precarious situation for all the them especially at this time of the year.
Children forced to witness house demolitions.
The demolition has not only affected the Elawi brothers, it also affected their parents, whose apartment is on the bottom floor of the same building. Windows shattered, doors broke, walls have been damaged, most of the furniture is ruined and the whole place is now filled with rubble. It will be a long time before anyone can live there again.
The local mosque, located 100 meters from the house, was damaged in the explosion, deeply affecting locals. On one side, all windows were shattered and broken glass covered the floor.
This morning at sunrise, many people were in the street attempting to clean up their houses before starting the day. They all will have to bare the consequences of this collective punishment, especially families with children who will now have to go through the beginning of winter without windows or doors to keep them warm. Furthermore, the usage of dynamite (TNT) in the house demolitions causes severe collateral damage on neighboring houses and thereby extends the collective punishment, which is already illegal and declared a war crime by international law.
Window frame in neighboring house severely damaged from the explosion
Raghib Elawi was accused of being involved on the 1st of October in the killing of two illegal Israeli settlers driving a car near Beit Furik. He was brutally arrested by Israeli forces in the night of the 4th of October while he was recovering from a surgery. The trial in his case still hasn’t taken place as the hearing was postponed, yet without being found guilty, his home has already been destroyed. This violates international law stating the right of being presumed innocent until proved guilty according to the law.
Three homes of Palestinians, believed to be involved in the same killing, were demolished on November 14th, leaving several families homeless.
Locals watching and showing their support to the Elawi family.
3rd February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine
In the early morning of February 2nd, 2015, Israeli forces demolished a two-room structure, a water well, and damaged a stone wall in Qusra, Occupied West Bank. All of the destroyed property was on land belonging to brothers Anwar and Akram Tayseer.
Israeli forces, at approximately 5:00am, destroyed the property with bulldozers. When farmers went out into their fields at 5:00am, five Israeli military jeeps were still present at the site, loitering around the recently destroyed infrastructure. The occupying forces refused to speak with anyone. The water well and small concrete structure were built with money donated by the French Consulate, to facilitate agricultural development in the vulnerable region. Located in Area C, Qusra is subject to common attacks from nearby illegal Israeli settlements, mainly the Esh Kodesh outpost. Settlers living in the illegal outpost Esh Kodesh have been implicated in various ´price tag´ attacks throughout the West Bank (acts of violence against Palestinians by settlers). Settlers come after every time local Palestinians work their land, in day or night, sometimes armed with iron bars; families often wake up to destroyed trees, structures, or crops. Israeli soldiers are often present at these incidents, intervening only to protect settlers. An Israeli military watchtower was constructed on the hill overlooking the agricultural lands around ten months ago. In the past, village residents have received Israeli orders to stop building on their land, which they have always respected (despite their illegality). However, it is not uncommon, according to locals, for farmers to have their agricultural structures demolished shortly after receiving these orders, despite the lack of further development.
This is not the first time the Tayseer´s family land has been attacked by settlers. On one occasion two years ago, Akram Tayseer was taken by the settlers, and severely beaten. He sustained injuries which put him in the hospital for two months, in his head, face, and arm. He was unable to leave his home for one year. Since this incident, residents recount that they have not seen him smile, and perceive that he is broken inside. The family has documents indicating their ownership of the land and the property which once stood on it.
The cost of agricultural structure demolished is approximately 5000 NIS (~$1275USD). The water well served as a collection site, and an important reservoir to nourish the fields. Enclosing the plots of land, around 500 meters of a traditional Palestinian stone wall was dismantled. The fields are the main source of income for the family.
According to OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), 82 Palestinian homes and agricultural structures have been demolished by Israel since the beginning of 2015. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for occupying powers to destroy property; Article 53 states: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons…is prohibited.” Since 1967, Israel has demolished over 27,000 Palestinian structures in the Occupied West Bank.
