On Saturday, Israeli soldiers demolished a home and abducted seven Palestinians, including siblings, in the Al-Jalazoun refugee camp north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank’s central part.
Media sources said several army jeeps and a bulldozer invaded the refugee camp and demolished a two-story home owned by Bajes Nakhla.
They added that, just a week earlier, the army ordered the property’s demolition under the allegation that the home was built without a permit.
During the invasion and the demolition, the soldiers abducted Khalil and Ayham Zaki Masarwa, Mohammad Raed Masarwa, Shadi and Mohammad Ramzi Nakhla, Nizar Abu Asba, and a child, Khalil Mohammad.
Israel’s illegal home demolition policy is internationally prohibited; according to Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and, likewise, all measures of intimidation or terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”
While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem and various areas in the occupied West Bank continue to be denied the right to build homes and property under various allegations meant to prevent the expansion of Palestinian towns and neighborhoods.
Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”
