Staff from the Israeli municipality and police forces stormed on Thursday Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood in Sur Baher town, east of Occupied Jerusalem, and took measurements of apartment buildings slated for demolitions

Head of the Wadi al-Hummus Committee Hamada Hamada said that municipal employees and police forces took measurements of 16 buildings composed of 100 apartments in the presence of Israeli contractors.

Hamada added that such step came after the period given by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) to the owners to demolish their apartments on their own expired today, thus the Israeli municipality would carry out the demolitions and make the owners pay the expenses.

The Israeli high court of justice recently rejected an appeal filed by local residents against an Israeli decision ordering the demolition of 16 apartment buildings containing 100 housing units in Wadi al-Hummus area of Sur Baher town.

This court ruling sets a precedent that will enable the IOA to demolish thousands of buildings and homes in the West Bank.

The Wadi Hummus neighborhood is located on the edge of Sur Baher, in southeast Jerusalem. Unlike the rest of the village, this neighborhood lies beyond the city’s municipal boundaries in the West Bank. Most of the area it occupies is designated as part of Area A, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

But after local residents submitted a petition while the separation fence was being built, beginning in 2003, the location of the wall was moved so that it would not pass through the heart of Sur Baher. Thus Wadi Hummus ended up on the Israeli side of the barrier, although legally it is considered to be part of the West Bank and under the PA’s control.

Wadi Hummus is the only area that remains for future expansion of the village, which is surrounded by the fence and Jewish settlements. Many buildings were erected in the neighborhood over the last decade or so, most occupied by young couples and families from the town. The buildings set for demolitions have some 100 apartments, 20 of which are tenanted and the rest are under construction.

Building permits for the construction were issued by the PA's planning ministry. However, seven years ago, the Israel army’s central command issued an injunction banning construction of buildings within 250 meters of the separation barrier. Locals say the order was not publicized and they had no knowledge of it, and that in any case, it is the PA that has planning authorization in the area.

 

Source: The Palestinian Information Center