Ramallah: Democracy and Human Rights Media Center- SHAMS, published its monthly documentary report for February 2023. The report documents the violations committed by the Occupation state against the Palestinian establishments through demolishing, closure, or notifications to be demolished in the near future. The Israeli authorities usually target the Palestinian religious, tourism, industrial, commercial, agricultural, official, or educational establishments. However, the focus is on the residency establishments that deprive Palestinians from the right to benefit and utilize their own establishments. SHAMS Center issues specialized documentation reports on monthly, semiannually, and annually basis about this kind and other kinds of violations committed by the occupying power (Israel) against Palestinians.
The report is developed based on field documentation methodology through the organization’s field researchers and documentation team who documented the violations against the Palestinian establishments. The current report covers the duration 1- 28/2/2022 in the various governorates of the West Bank. Collected data is analyzed and processed to be presented against a group of comprehensive qualitative and quantitative indicators, in the form of easily reading tables. During February 2023, the Israeli authorities targeted 187 establishments, owned by Palestinians, through demolishing, closure, or notifications of future demolishing.
The majority of the violations was demolishing (126 establishments) including an establishment owned by a woman. In Ein Jweiza and Khalet el- Hoor in Walaja Village- Bethlehem, the Israeli authorities demolished a house owned by a woman named Ghadeer Muhammad Hassan Al- Attrash and another 9 establishments. The justification given by the Israeli authorities to legalize the crimes, is unlicensed building.
As for the notifications with demolishing orders, the Israeli authorities notified the owners of 60 establishments with military orders of demolishing or stop construction. The targeted establishments in this regard included residential units, residential rooms, stones terraces, and a mosque.
On a related level, the Israeli authorities closed the house of martyr Hussein Qaraqe family in Al- Toor- Jerusalem. The internal and external doors of the house and so the windows, were closed with metal plates that were fixed using special machines. The closed house is an apartment in a residential building and was targeted as part of the collective punishment policy applied against Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation.
The first indicator within the report is about the distribution of the targeted establishments based on type. The demolished establishments during February included: residential units (22), residential rooms (3), residential tents (5), residential barracks (1), agricultural rooms (2), water walls (3), agricultural barracks (6), commercial establishments (20), livestock barracks/ sheds (8), poultry barracks/ sheds (2), café (1), vegetables kiosks (48), stones terraces (1), horse stable (2), wooden room (1), and stairs (1).
The notified establishments included: residential units (53), residential caravans (1), agricultural rooms (2), commercial establishments (1), religious establishment (1), stones terraces (1), and animal farm (1). The closed establishment was a residential unit
The second indicator is related to the geographical distribution of the targeted establishments where the majority was in Jenin Governorate (48) and (26) establishments in Jericho/ Jordan Valley Governorate.
Concerning the notifications (demolishing, stop construction, confiscation, and other violations) that deprive Palestinians from utilizing their establishments, the majority was in Jerusalem (17) while there were 16 notifications in Jenin. Analyzing the geographical notifications, will lead to predict the future targeting of the Palestinian establishments.
The closed establishments included one residential unit in Jerusalem
The third indicator within the report is related to the targeted population as all the targeted establishments are owned by Palestinians where 126 Palestinians including 36 children and 5 women were affected by the occupation’s violations during February.
Concerning the justifications given by the Israeli authorities to legalize the crimes against Palestinian establishments, 70 out of 126 establishments were demolished under the justification of unlicensed building in areas classified as (c) while one house was demolished within the policy of collective punishment against Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation to deter other from joining the national resistance. 48 establishments were demolished under the justification of being built close to a military checkpoint and 2 were demolished under the justification of being built close to an illegal Israeli settlement. On a related level, 5 houses were demolished during the invasions of the Palestinian localities and searching for Palestinian fighters.
As for the notifications, the owners of 57 establishments were notified under the justification of unlicensed building in areas classified as (c) and two establishments were notified under the justification of being built close to a military checkpoint. The owner of one house was notified with demolishing order as part of collective punishment against Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation
The closed house was within the policy of collective punishment against Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation.
As for the self- demolishing, which represents one of the structured forms of oppression committed against Palestinians, where Jerusalemite Palestinians are obligated to demolish their establishments on their own to avoid paying huge financial fines or being arrested in case they do not do, 9 establishments were demolished by the owners themselves. Self- demolishing is a clear manifestation of the Israeli Apartheid Regime where the owners are obligated to participate in the crimes against themselves. In case the owner does not demolish the establishment, then he/ she would be responsible to afford the exaggerated costs of the demolishing process if it was done by the Israeli authorities.
Within the policy of demolishing houses as collective punishment against Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation to deter others from joining the national resistance, one house in Jerusalem and another in Hebron were demolished within the given policy.