Security forces demolish seven houses in Mt. Hebron villages
Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz, 14 Feb 2007
Security forces destroyed seven illegally constructed Palestinian houses and 13 other structures Wednesday on the southern slope of Mount Hebron in the West Bank.
The demolitions took place in the villages of Manzal, Umm al-Khir and Gawawis.
Abdullah Harizat, a resident of Manzal, said that police forces, Border Police and Israel Defense Forces troops arrived in the village Wednesday morning, accompanied by the Engineering Corps.
Harizat said the forces demolished a house belonging to a family with eight children. "During the demolition, the wall of a house of another family was also destroyed," he said.
The area is located in Area C, subject to Civil Administration control.
Harizat said the structures were built illegally because the residents of the village are not allowed to receive construction permits. "We ask, but they never give them to us. They say, 'this is state land.'"
Harizat said the forces that destroyed the houses did not attend to the needs of residents left without a roof during the night. Relatives brought the family a tent in which to sleep, he said.
One woman was admitted for medical treatment after losing consciousness during the demolitions.
Israeli leftist activists also arrived at the scene, one of whom was detained.
The Committee Against House Demolitions said a petition filed by a residents of one of the villages was rejected.
The committee added that the residents' legal situation remains untenable. "A building permit is unavailable there," it said.
The Civil Administration said, "Twenty illegal structures were destroyed after demolition orders were issued, and offers were made to the owners to pursue the available options before the planning organizations. The supervisory unit of the civil administration will continue to operate against illegal building activity in the area, and to implement the steps mandated by law against this illegal activity."
