Israeli top court approves displacement of over 1200 Palestinians
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The High Court of Justice upheld the state's contention that inhabitants of Masafer Yatta communities near Al-Khalil.
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Palestinian families in Masafer Yatta have begun taking refuge in caves
The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a petition challenging the displacement of over 1,000 Palestinians from a rural area of the occupied West Bank that "Israel" has designated as a military drill zone.
The Supreme Court released its verdict late on Wednesday, opening the path for the demolition of eight communities in Masafer Yatta near Al-Khalil, after two decades of unproductive legal maneuvering.
In its judgment, the court claimed that the Palestinian villagers, who have maintained a distinct, generations-long nomadic way of life, based on farming and herding, were not permanent residents of the region when the Israeli military proclaimed it a firing zone in the 1980s.
Residents of Masafer Yatta and Israeli rights organizations claim that many Palestinian families have lived continuously in the 3,000-hectare region since before "Israel" occupied the West Bank in 1967. Their expulsion would be a violation of international law.
The European Union Delegation to the Palestinians Tweeted that "Yesterday, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision on the Masafer Yatta eviction case in the South Hebron Hills. As a result of this decision, about 1200 Palestinians in the area face a risk of imminent forcible transfer from their homes & destruction of their communities.
"Under international law, individual or mass forcible transfers and deportation of protected persons from occupied territories are prohibited, regardless of their motive. As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect the Palestinian population & not displace it."
1/2 Yesterday, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision on the Masafer Yatta eviction case in the South Hebron Hills. As a result of this decision, about 1200 Palestinians in the area face a risk of imminent forcible transfer from their homes & destruction of their communities
— EU and Palestinians (@EUpalestinians) May 5, 2022
Nidal Abu Younis, Masafer Yatta's mayor, stated that this is proof that the court is part of the occupation. "We are not going to leave our homes. We will stay here."
According to the Israeli rights group B'Tselemm "The justices have thus proved once again that the occupied cannot expect justice from the occupier's court. The decision, weaving baseless legal interpretation with decontextualized facts, makes it clear that there is no crime which the high court justices will not find a way to legitimize."
The court stated that the door was still open for the villagers and the military to reach an agreement on using portions of the property for agricultural purposes, and urged both parties to seek a solution.
Read more: Israeli forces attack Sheikh Jarrah residents in occupied Al-Quds
“This court ruling effectively opens the door for the Israeli military to uproot entire Palestinian communities that have lived in Masafer Yatta for decades," stated Caroline Ort, the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) country director for Palestine.
"The damage this decision will inflict on people’s homes and source of livelihoods is irredeemable. People could be made homeless overnight with nowhere for them to go.
“This is a dangerous step that must be reversed. If followed through, it would constitute a violation of international law, which prohibits Israel as an occupying power from transferring members of the occupied population from their existing communities against their will," the NRC added.
The occupation court just decided: My community will be destroyed. I live in Massafer Yatta, Palestine. An unjust 23 year long trial ended today with a verdict of mass eviction. The army can now place us on trucks, 2,400 people, and expel us from our ancient villages, one by one. pic.twitter.com/8szt0OdPdf
— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) May 5, 2022
According to Lynn Hastings, the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process in the UN, "The decision affects over one thousand Palestinians including 500 children in the occupied West Bank and allows for the eviction of the residents. As all domestic legal remedies have been exhausted, the community is now unprotected and at risk of imminent displacement."
Home demolitions, theft of basic infrastructure, and military training drills are already commonplace in the area, forcing many people to live in natural caves.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces have destroyed or seized 217 Palestinian buildings in "Firing Zone 918" since 2011, displacing 608 Palestinian inhabitants.
"Israel" has designated roughly 30 percent of "Israel"-administered Area C, which covers 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, as "firing zones" according to the UN.
The NRC also stressed that these territories contain at least 38 Palestinian villages.
