On Thursday, Israeli soldiers demolished a Palestinian home in Beit Jala city, west of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.
Media sources said a large military force invaded the Be’er Owna area after surrounding and isolating it.
They added that the soldiers then demolished a 150-square-meter one-story home owned by Maher Rezeq Zreina.
The army alleges that the home was built without a permit from the so-called “Civil Administration Office,” the administrative branch of the illegal Israeli occupation.
It is worth mentioning that the demolition is the fifth, but the family keeps rebuilding on its land.
Be’er Awna is subject to frequent Israeli violations, including the demotion of homes and property and the bulldozing of Palestinian lands due to Israel’s ongoing illegal colonialist activities.
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.”
