LONDON: Israeli authorities issued demolition notices on Thursday for nine Palestinian homes in the town of Ash-Shuyukh, northeast of Hebron in the West Bank, that they said were built without permits.
The houses, in the Qanan Nias area of the town, belong to the Abu Eid, Ayaydeh and Jabarin families, who said that they submitted the legal paperwork required to obtain permits and so were surprised to receive demolition notices, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Ash-Shuyukh is within “Area A,” which makes up about 18 percent of the West Bank is the only zone in which the Palestinian Authority has full civilian and security control, based on a 1993 peace agreement with Israel. However, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an official unit within the Israeli Ministry of Defense, has the final say on construction permits across the occupied West Bank.
This week, Israel began excavation and bulldozing work to establish a new settlement called “Doren” near the city of Hebron. Authorities also seized planning and construction powers over the Ibrahimi Mosque, disregarding an agreement with the Palestinian Authority that had been in place since the 1990s.
Since the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem began in 1967, Israel has implemented a policy of demolitions designed to prevent the merging of Palestinian towns into larger cities, and to enable the establishment of settlements or military sites between them.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories in cases filed at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
