Introduction » Background » Why are houses demolished? » What happens after?
Various explanations are given by Israeli authorities for the demolition of Palestinian homes. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem documented the official reasons given for the demolition of over 4,100 Palestinian houses in the OPT between 2000 and 2004. Sixty percent were demolished in ‘clearing operations’ (i.e. mass demolitions); 25 percent were destroyed for the lack of building permits; and 15 percent were destroyed as punishment against accused militants. In this latter case, 32 percent of the individuals were in Israeli detention, 21 percent were ‘wanted’, and 47 percent were already dead. When the homes of suspected militants are demolished, they are usually demolished without prior warning. In some cases, residents were not able or were not given the opportunity to evacuate and died in the building’s collapse.
SECURITY RATIONALE
When demolishing houses of Palestinians suspected of committing security offenses, Israeli authorities refer to article 119 (1) of the 1945 Defense (Emergency) Regulations approved by the British government at the time of the British Mandate in Palestine:
A Military Commander may by order direct the forfeiture by the Government of Palestine of any house, structure, or land from which he has reason to suspect that any firearm has been illegally discharged, or any bomb, grenade or explosive or incendiary article illegally thrown, or of any house, structure or land situated in any area, town, village, quarter or street the inhabitants or some of the inhabitants of which he is satisfied have committed, or attempted to commit, or abetted the commission of, or been accessories after the fact to the commission of, any offense against these Regulations involving violence or intimidation or any Military Court offense; and when any house, structure or land is forfeited as aforesaid, the Military Commander may destroy the house or the structure or anything growing on the land.
The Israeli Supreme Court regards the Defense (Emergency) Regulations as a section of Israeli local law, despite the fact that they were rescinded at the end of the British Mandate. Israeli authorities began applying those regulations to the OPT in 1967.
ADMINISTRATIVE RATIONALE
Due to restrictive zoning and urban planning, bureaucratic and financial obstacles, Palestinians seek to resolve urgent housing needs by building without an official permit, despite the risk of subsequent demolition. Three-hundred and twenty-five homes, over half (184) of them in Jerusalem, were demolished in the West Bank due to the lack of building permits between the years 2004 and mid-2007, according to B’Tselem.
Throughout the West Bank, but in Jerusalem in particular, observers note clear discrimination in the application of building regulations and punishment meted out. Between 1996 and 2000, for example, the number of recorded building violations was four and a half times higher in Israeli neighborhoods of Jerusalem (17,382 violations) than in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem (3,846 violations). But the number of demolition orders over this period issued in West Jerusalem was four times less (86 orders) than the number in East Jerusalem (348 orders).
“In other words, while over 80 percent of building violations were recorded in West Jerusalem, 80 percent of actual demolition orders were issued for buildings in Palestinian East Jerusalem,” according to the World Bank. Between 1999 and 2003, 157 Palestinian-owned buildings were demolished in Jerusalem by Israeli authorities, compared to only 30 Israeli-owned buildings.
Many families continue to live with the threat of displacement through house demolition. In 2005, there were more than 10,000 outstanding demolition orders for Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem alone.
