Home Demolitions: The Legal Framework
Home demolitions and sealing not directly necessitated by military operations, as well as collective punishment in general, is expressly prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which is the basic legal instrument governing the conduct of occupying powers and to which Israel is a signatory. The policy of demolitions and sealings is also in clear violation of basic principles of human rights. As an illegal, extra-judicial measure of collective punishment with unacceptable humanitarian consequences, it has been widely condemned both locally and internationally.
Israel contends that house demolitions are merely an act of law enforcement. Homes are destroyed, or issued a demolition order, on the pretext of being "illegal", that is they are homes built without permits. They were not given permits because they violate existing zoning laws. This is, for the most part, true. Israel relies on a façade of legality to justify home demolitions and to mask the political motivations behind its policy.
Israel's official position is that the demolition of "illegal" homes "is based on enforcement of the valid planning and building laws in the area as well as enforcement of the various planning outlines valid in the area".
These valid laws and outlines referred to in this statement by then Defense Minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, are the RJ/5 regional plan for Jerusalem and the southern areas of the West Bank, and the S/15 regional plan for the northern West Bank. Both these plans were based on a 1942 British Mandate proposal prepared for needs and conditions that bear no resemblance to today. The 57 year-old RJ/5 and S/15 plans have never been replaced by more relevant, updated versions that apply to the current trend of population growth and development requirements. Both plans apply only to Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank. The 195 illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and East Jerusalem violate these very same zoning regulations as well as international law and the stipulations of the Oslo Accords and the Wye River Memorandum.
It is true that some Palestinians build homes without applying for permits. They do so because they have no other option. Years of suppressed development have created overcrowding and poverty. The absence of development areas allocated by RJ/5 and S/15 means any development violates planning regulations. RJ/5 and S/15 make it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to obtain a building permit in the West Bank and even harder for a Palestinian in East Jerusalem. The cost of a building permit in East Jerusalem can amount to $20,000 and take five years to obtain. The number of permits issued in the West Bank has been at less than one-tenth of the rate required by the natural development and population growth taking place.
If the Israeli government's house demolition policy follows from the enforcement of valid laws, then they are laws which clearly discriminate against the Palestinians and it is a law which has been imposed upon a people in the context of occupation. In the case of home demolition, the "law" is merely an excuse used in furtherance of a policy and an ultimate goal which violates Israel's commitments under the Oslo Agreements, international law, and basic humanitarian principles.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that no resident of an occupied territory "may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed," and furthermore explicitly forbids collective punishment.