On Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers demolished two residential structures in the az-Za’ayem town, east of occupied East Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
Several army vehicles, including bulldozers, surrounded the town before invading it and demolishing two residential structures built using wood and tin.
Media sources said each structure was about 100 square meters, owned by Odah Mohammad Saidi and Hamza Mohammad Saidi, and provided shelter for eleven Palestinians, including children.
The Israeli army claimed that the two residential structures, built on private Palestinian lands, were constructed without a permit.
The two residential structures were built in 1993, and the families received demolition orders first in 1997 and paid heavy fines and fees while trying to save their properties but to no avail.
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.”
