On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers invaded Sur Baher village, south of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank, and demolished a Palestinian home.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers, including undercover officers, invaded the Al-Qissan area in Sur Baher and surrounded a home.
They added that the soldiers forced the family out of their small 70 square/meter home and demolished it.
The soldiers imposed a tight siege on the area before invading it and demolishing the family’s property on its land under the pretext of being built without a permit.
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 policies of home demolitions, regardless of ‘justifications’, are acts of illegal collective punishment that violate International Law and various human rights treaties.
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.”
