Ramallah: Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, published the monthly documentation report for September 2023; about targeting the Palestinian establishments by the Israeli authorities. Targeting the Palestinian establishments was through demolishing, confiscations, or notification with military orders to be demolished in the near future. The targeted establishments included religious, tourism, industrial, commercial, educational, and agricultural establishments. However, the focus is on the residential establishments. Palestinian establishments are targeted by Israel (Occupying Power) systematically. SHAMS Center usually issues regular monthly, semi-annually, and annual documentation reports about Israeli violations against Palestinian establishments as well as other types of violations.
The report is developed based on field documentation methodology through the team and field researchers of the Center. The researchers documented all the Israeli occupation violations in the various governorates of the West Bank for the period (1- 30/9/2023) to issue the current report. The collected data was processed and presented in the form of easily read tables and charts against a group of qualitative and quantitative indicators. However, in September, the Israeli authorities targeted 205 Palestinian establishments by demolishing, confiscation, and notifications with demolishing orders in the near future.
The major form of violation was demolishing as 72 establishments were demolished during the current month. There were 4 establishments among the demolished establishments where the owners were obligated to demolish them on their own to avoid paying exaggerated financial fines or being arrested in case they did not pay. The demolished establishments were under the claim of unlicensed building and they included a house, under construction, owned by a woman in Froosh Beit Dajan-Nablus. As for the notifications, the Israeli authorities notified the owners of 131 establishments with military orders to demolish or stop construction under the claim of an unlicensed building. The notified establishments included houses, commercial establishments, car washing, warehouses, agricultural barracks, wooden pergolas, and a football playground.
Concerning the confiscated establishments, the Israeli authorities confiscated a house in the Old City of Jerusalem and another in the Old City of Hebron.
The first indicator within the report reflects the type of targeted establishments through either demolishing, notification with demolishing orders, or eviction. The demolished establishments during September included houses (14), retaining walls (1), commercial establishments (51), livestock barracks/ sheds (1), car washing (2), Family hall (1), warehouse (1), and animal farm (1).
The notified establishments included houses (102), residential tents (1), car washing (1), warehouses (6), livestock barracks/ sheds (1), agricultural barracks (3), commercial establishment (14), agricultural pergolas (2), and football playground (1).
The confiscated establishments were 2 houses, one in the Old City of Jerusalem and one in the Old City of Hebron.
The second indicator, within the report, reflects the geographical distribution of the targeted establishments where there were 45 establishments in Jenin and 18 in Jerusalem.
Regarding the notifications that include orders of demolishing or stopping construction or eviction as well as other violations that deprive Palestinians of utilizing their properties and assets, the majority of the notified establishments were in Salfeet (76) while in the Jordan Valley, there were 27 notified establishments. Revising the map of the notified establishments would contribute to predicting the future targeting of the Palestinian establishments.
The third indicator reflects the targeted population as all the establishments are owned by Palestinians. During September, 8 persons were affected by the Israeli violations, including at least 2 women and 4 children.
Regarding the claims given by the Israeli authorities to legalize the crimes against Palestinian establishments, all the demolished establishments (72) were under the claim of an unlicensed building in areas classified as (C).
Regarding the notifications. The Israeli authorities notified the owners of 131 establishments, during September, with demolishing or stopping construction orders and all were under the claim of an unlicensed building in areas classified as (C).
The two confiscated houses were under the claim that they were owned by Jews.
The self-demolishing represents a form of structured oppression as Palestinians are forced to demolish their establishments on their own. Such policy is applied against Jerusalemite Palestinians where the owners should pay the cost of the demolishing process in case done by the Israeli authorities and there is no way but to pay, as if not, then the owner will be arrested till the amount is paid. Usually, there is a huge exaggeration in estimating these costs. The other solution for Jerusalemites is that they demolish the establishment on their own, which is less costly. Self-demolishing is a policy that interprets the racism of the Israeli occupation where the victim is obligated to participate in the crime against him/ herself. In September, the Israeli authorities obligated 4 owners to demolish their establishments on their own.
On a related level, during the raids of the Palestinian localities in the West Bank, the Israeli forces tended to destroy the houses and establishments of Palestinians. Additionally, the Israeli forces tend to demolish the water and sewage networks to increase the suffering of Palestinians. In this regard, the Israeli forces demolished a house in Aqqaba Village, owned by Muhammad Abu Arra. On 19/9/2023, during an invasion of Jenin Refugee Camp, the Israeli forces fired two rockets toward two houses causing to burn them. Additionally, the Israeli forces surrounded the house of Muhammad Abu Al- Baha and destroyed it partially.