B’Tselem to Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials: Demolishing Palestinian communities – a war crime for which you would bear personal liability

5 September 2017

The Defense Minister declared that Israel is preparing to expel two Palestinian communities in the West Bank – an unlawful action that would constitute forcible transfer of protected persons in occupied territory

Yesterday, 4 September 2017, B’Tselem sent a grave letter to Israel’s prime minister, the defense minister, the chief of staff and the head of the Civil Administration, cautioning that demolition of the Palestinian communities of Susiya and Khan al-Ahmar as planned would constitute a war crime for which they would bear personal liability.

B’Tselem made the unusual move after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the press last week that the defense ministry was “preparing for the evacuation of Palestinian communities built without authorization” and that “work was being done to implement plans to evacuate the Palestinian villages of Sussia in the South Hebron Hills and Khan al-Ahmar near Ma’aleh Adumim within a few months.”

The demolition of entire communities in the Occupied Territories is virtually unprecedented since 1967. In its letter, B’Tselem warned that under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel is obliged to respect in all its actions in the West Bank, forcible transfer of protected persons inside the occupied territory is prohibited and constitutes a war crime. The organization emphasized that the prohibition on forcible transfer of protected persons is not limited to transfer by physical force, but applies also to “departure due to impossible living conditions created by the authorities – through, for instance, demolishing homes or disconnecting them from electricity and running water. “

School girls in Khan al-Ahmar community. Photo by Faiz Abu Rmeleh, Activestills

B’Tselem further stressed that “forcible transfer is one of the offenses that come under the purview of the International Criminal Court. All persons responsible for the commission of a forcible transfer bear personal liability for the results. Among those liable for the destruction of Palestinian communities in the West Bank will be the prime minister, the defense minister, the justice minister and their fellow ministers, as well as the chief-of-staff and other high ranking military officers, and the head of the Civil Administration, who operates under instructions by the government.”

B’Tselem rejected the justification provided by Israeli officials that the structures in these communities were built without a permit, stating that “Israel’s permit and planning policy in the West Bank renders this claim disingenuous, to say the least.” Israel’s policy in 60% of the West Bank (Area C) denies Palestinian residents virtually any possibility of construction for residential purposes, prohibits connections to infrastructure and precludes public construction to match residents’ needs. In the absence of any other option, residents are forced to build without receiving permits from the authorities, subsequently living in constant uncertainty and fear of demolition. B’Tselem also notes the demolition cannot be considered lawful even if the planning authorities and the Israeli Supreme Court decide to lend it their stamp of approval: “These decisions do not render unlawful actions legal; rather, they turn the decision-makers into accessories to a crime.“

Khan al-Ahmar, which lies on land that Israel has earmarked for expansion of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, is home to 21 families numbering 146 persons, including 85 minors. It has a mosque and a local school, which was established in 2009 and serves more than 150 children between the ages of six and fifteen – some of them from neighboring communities.

Susiya, the southern Hebron Hills, is home to 32 families numbering some 200 persons, including 93 minors. It has a council structure, a clinic, a small preschool and a school for grades one through nine, which serves 55 children.

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Communities Facing Expulsion

Court sanctioned war crime committed in broad daylight

Yesterday, Israel committed an attempted forcible transfer – a war crime – against residents of Humsah. In a break from the previous five demolitions in the community within less than a year, yesterday, Israeli soldiers and Civil Administration staff removed the contents of some residents’ homes and transported the items to an area located near ‘Ein Shibli, where Israel has been trying to forcibly relocate residents. Israel misrepresented these actions as being part of dialog and consent, proving, if anyone still entertained any doubts, it is intent on expelling these residents from their homes permanently. The military’s response, as it appeared in the media, highlighted the fact that the attempted expulsion was carried out with the approval of Israel’s High Court of Justice. Indeed, when the ICC looks into forcible transfers as part of its investigation of Israel, it will have to assess the responsibility of justices as well as ministers and top military commanders. On Wednesday, at around 8:00 A.M., soldiers and Civil Administration staff arrived at the community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces declared the area a closed military zone and denied journalists, human rights activists and diplomats access. The forces dismantled nine tents and four huts used as residences, as well as 17 agricultural structures, all together belonging to nine families with a total of 61 members, including 34 minors. The forces also destroyed four water tanks, water lines, fencing and farming equipment. The residents’ belongings were loaded onto trucks that transported them to the ‘Ein Shibli community, which lies west of Khirbet Humsah. Community members fled to the mountains with their flocks, leaving the buses brought in to forcibly relocate them to ‘Ein Shibli empty.

9 July 2021

Communities Facing Expulsion

Top diplomats from 17 countries tour Palestinian communities Israel is trying to expel from South Hebron Hills

The representatives of 17 countries, including EU members as well as other countries, are currently visiting Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills, whose residents Israel is seeking to expel. Since 2000 the residents have been waging a legal struggle in Israel's High Court of Justice. Last August, before the last hearing in the case, the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research revealed a document that proved what was already clear: Israel had declared the area a firing zone to facilitate the expulsion of its residents. The judges ignored that information and the residents are currently awaiting their ruling. Heads of delegations and other diplomats are currently visiting Palestinian communities in the Masafer Yatta area in the South Hebron Hills, whose home Israel has declared as “Firing Zone 918”, in an effort to drive them out. Around 1,000 residents are awaiting a forthcoming ruling by Israel’s High Court of Justice in the latest petition in their decades-long struggle against Israel’s attempts. On the tour are representatives of the EU and of member states Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Ireland, as well as the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Canada, which concur with the EU’s position that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unlawful and that Israel’s policy of forcible transfer of Palestinians is unacceptable. At the village of Khirbet al-Majaz, the participants are visiting the local school, built with EU funding, and meeting community leaders along with Nidal Younis, head of the Masafer Yatta local council, and Nasser Nawaj’ah, a resident of Susiya and Field Researcher for B’Tselem. The tour, which is adhering the most up-to-date Covid-19 safety guidelines, was organized by Israeli NGOs Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem. Breaking the Silence Executive Director Avner Gvaryahu said: “We have come here today to announce that we will not stand by while the State of Israel declares hundreds of people illegal residents in their own homes. We will not stay silent when soldiers are sent to expel people from their homes, in which they lived long before the first Israeli soldier set foot in the West Bank. We invite everyone to come here with us and look these people in the eye. That is more than the policymakers, who are forcing entire families to live in constant fear of being driven out of their homes, have ever done. This is expulsion. This is occupation.” B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad added that “Israel has coveted Masafer Yatta for decades, viewing it as an area ready for exploitation were it not for what it perceives as the fly in the ointment – Palestinians who live in the area. The state wishes to expel all these families, demolish their homes and destroy their livelihoods, on one pretext or another. Declaring the area a firing zone was the excuse; cleansing the territory of Palestinians is the goal. This criminal plan must be stopped.” Background: In the early 1980s, the Israeli military declared an area of about 3,000 hectares in the South Hebron Hills known as Masafer Yatta a restricted military zone, dubbed 'Firing Zone 918'. At the time, dozens of Palestinian families had been living in the area for years, since before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. They lived in 12 small villages and earned a living as farmers and shepherds. In October and November 1999, the military expelled around 700 residents of these communities. Following the expulsion, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Attorney Shlomo Lecker filed a petition to the High Court of Justice (HCJ) on behalf of some 200 families. The court issued an interim injunction, in power to this day, that prohibited the state to expel the residents but also put their lives on hold. They continue to live in their homes and work their land, under constant threat of demolition, expulsion and dispossession. They are also barred from new development. Left with no choice, the communities built new homes without permits, as well as the necessary infrastructure, including for supplying water and power. The Israeli authorities issued demolition orders for these structures and in many cases carried them out, and confiscated infrastructure equipment, while many other demolition orders remain in power. Since 2006 and until the end of September 2020, B’Tselem has documented the demolition of 66 structures, which were home to 358 people, including 163 minors, in these communities. Since the beginning of 2012, B’Tselem has also documented the demolition of 21 non-residential structures in these communities. After 20-odd years of legal proceedings, the High Court is set to issue its ruling soon. In the last hearing on the matter, held on 10 August 2020, the state argued that the petitioners had not been permanent residents of the area when it was declared a “firing zone”, and therefore had no right to continue living in their homes. It further argued that the communities were taking advantage of the interim injunction: people not included in it were moving into the area and residents were building without permits. The state counsel claimed that Israel had been willing to offer a “compromise,” such as allowing residents to live in their homes for two months a year with prior coordination or on weekends and Jewish holidays when the military does not train in the area, but that the petitioners had rejected all the proposals – which would have effectively destroyed their lives and forced them to leave. Relying on this statement, the justices directed the petitioners to examine various solutions that would enable the military to train in their area of residence, maintaining that “the solution lies in one balance or another.” In doing so, the court ignored an Akevot Institute finding last August that declaring the area a firing zone had been intended from the outset to help drive the Palestinians out, and was never a military necessity.

19 October 2020

The Supreme Court of the Occupation

Fake Justice

The report shows how the justices of Israel’s Supreme Court have validated the state’s planning apparatus in the West Bank, enabling it to continue implementing illegal policies. Time and time again, the justices have ignored the fact that the planning apparatus imposes an almost blanket prohibition on Palestinian construction with the object of enabling Israel to take over as much Palestinian land as possible. The report, Fake Justice: The Responsibility Israel’s High Court Justices Bear for the Demolition of Palestinian Homes and the Dispossession of Palestinians, is based on a careful examination of hundreds of High Court cases, judgments and decisions regarding the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. In none of these cases did the justices accept the arguments of the Palestinian petitioners.

7 February 2019