17 May 1996

Two More Homes Demolished, This Time in Village near Ramallah

In the early morning of 16 May, Israeli bulldozers arrived unannounced to demolish two homes in Kufur Aqab village, south of Ramallah. Homeowners Hajj Daoud Assad Hamdan and prisoner Fadol Khader al Aljouni received no warning before the bulldozers arrived to demolish to their houses - purportedly for having no building permit. These demolitions take place against the backdrop of the continuing peace negotiations to determine the final status for the West Bank and Gaza, and violate both the letter and the spirit of the peace process. These two demolitions bring to 84 the total number of homes demolished by the Israeli occupation authorities since the signing of the Declaration of Principles in September 1993.

House Demolition Notices:

On 10 May, five house demolitions notices were delivered to residents of Karawa Bani Hossan village near Tulkarem for having no building permit.

On 12 May, Four house demolition notices were given to residents of Anata village, north of Jerusalem. These houses are to be demolished to make way for by-pass road number 70.

Raids, Intimidation, Oppression:

On 14 May, three Palestinian secret police officers came to the office of journalist Fayez Nuradin, photographer for AFP (the French press association), threatened and arrested him, apparently for taking a photo of a donkey. They put a bag over his head and beat him all over his head and body, took him to the police station and continued to beat him. A hospital report stated that his body was badly bruised.

On 12 May, Israeli authorities raided Dahiyyet Shweika village near Tulkarem, and searched all the homes in the village.

On 13 May, the Israeli army closed two mosques, one in Kabalan village south of Nablus and the other in al Ram, north of Jerusalem, for "security reasons".

On 14 May, Israeli soldiers hit and harassed farmers from Bet Ula village near Hebron. These farmers were attempting to work their land located near the green line, but soldiers forced them to stop, saying the area was a closed military zone.

Health and Medicine:

16 May, Fathi Shaw, a 62 year-old Gazan, was denied permission to go to Jordan to receive treatment for cancer of the larynx. He died still waiting for the permission to be granted, in the beginning of May.

Land and Water Establishment is a Palestinian non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAWE is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.