Israel Demolished a Palestinian's Home in Violation of Court Orders. He Now Lives in a Tent With His Children
Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 01:06PM Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank claims the property was mistaken for another. The owner of the house said inspectors ignored him when he said a court order barred the demolition
by Hagar Shezaf 10 August 2022 Haaretz
The demolition of the house in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank, last month.Credit: Courtesy of Najah Taamat
Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank demolished a Palestinian family's home in the South Hebron Hills despite a court order barring it from being torn down.
The house, which was demolished in late July, was home to a family with four young children. Following an investigation, the administration informed the court on Monday that the property was mistaken for another that had already been demolished and blamed it on "human error."
According to the home's owner who spoke to Haaretz, the inspectors were informed of the court order prohibiting the demolition in real time but disregarded him.
"I didn't think they would come to tear down our house," Najah Taamat, of the village of Umm Kusa, said. "They dragged us from the house after entering with great force. When I informed them that I had a restraining order prohibiting the demolition, they said: 'Enough, we don't want to talk to you. There's a demolition order here.'"
Taamat had previously worked in agriculture in Israel, but he broke his leg in May and has been out of work ever since. "Building the house was very expensive, but I did it for my children," he said. "The current circumstance is difficult. We're living in a tent and the days are very hot," he said.
Taamat completed construction of his home, which was built without a permit, in February. He moved into the house in March after living in a tent with his parents, his wife and four children, the youngest of which is 6 months old. The others are 4, 6 and 7 years old.
He was served with an administrative demolition order known as "a removal order for new structures" in late May. It permits the demolition of a house within 96 hours, but only up to 30 days after a property is occupied.
Since two and a half months had elapsed, Taamat petitioned the High Court of Justice through his lawyer, Ghiath Nassir. An interim injunction prohibiting the demolition was issued by Justice Chaled Kabub for the period during which the court considered the petition. About a month later, while the case was still pending, inspectors from the Civil Administration demolished the house.
In a contempt of court request, Nassir demanded that the Civil Administration restore the house and compensate the family. He also claimed the authorities were ignoring the root of the problem, namely “the planning freeze that they are imposing, and trying to establish in the territories … while systematically denying the basic right to receive a permit to build a house and guarantee shelter.”
The Civil Administration informed the court that it would review whether further oversight procedures were required before homes are demolished and that it was considering taking steps against the supervisor who committed the error and had the housed destroyed.
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Israel has the authority to issue building permits in Area C of the West Bank – the portion of the territory under full Israeli civil and military control. However, many Palestinians build there without a permit for a variety of reasons, one of which is that the Civil Administration rarely advances master plans for Palestinian communities, let alone issuing building permits.
As reported in Haaretz, between 2016 and 2018, Palestinians in Area C submitted 1,485 requests for permits, but the Civil Administration only granted 21, or 1.4 percent, of the requests. A total of 2,147 demolition orders against Palestinian structures were issued during that same time frame. Ninety of the orders have been carried out to date, for violating planning and construction laws, according to Civil Administration statistics.
