BETHLEHEM, Sunday, April 11, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli forces today evening dismantled and seized for the second time an agricultural shed belonging to a Palestinian resident in the town of al-Khader, south of the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, according to local activist Ahmad Salah.
The activist told WAFA Israeli forces dismantled and seized an agricultural shed located west of the town of al-Kahder, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext.
He said Israeli forces have recently been carrying out wide-scale demolition campaigns against Palestinian structures in the town.
Israel uses many pretexts to justify its demolition policy, including the pretext of building having been constructed without a building permit. However, as the Occupying Power, Israel is prohibited from demolishing the property of the protected Palestinian people unless strictly justified by military necessity. The extensive destruction of property carried out by Israel without military necessity constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and may constitute a war crime, said the human rights organization, Al-Haq.
Moreover, this policy of unlawfully demolishing Palestinian buildings and structures, taken alongside many other similarly unlawful policies and actions, reveal Israel’s intention to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities from their homes. Settlement construction and expansion, exploitation of natural resources, restricting movement and access, the application of a discriminatory planning policy, and the virtual impossibility of obtaining building permits create a coercive environment for Palestinians, which amounts to direct and indirect forcible transfer, prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention and which may constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity, said the center.
Furthermore, having their properties demolished and destroyed, the Palestinian people are deprived of their right to develop their resources and are ultimately denied from exercising their right to self-determination, added al-Haq.
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