OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) issued on Wednesday a demolition order against a Palestinian residential building in Beit Jala town in Bethlehem at the pretext of its location in area C and its construction without license.
The owner Simon Al-Aaraj had started the construction of his building in 2000 after he received verbal approval from the IOA’s civil administration in Beit Eil city allowing him to build in a piece of land located within the zoning plan of Beit Jala and accordingly he obtained a construction permit from the municipal council of Beit Jala.
As the second intifada broke out at the end of 2000 he stopped the construction and in 2012 he managed to renew the license papers in order to build more stories.
Aaraj’s building is located opposite Israel’s segregation wall in Beit Jala.
According to the second Oslo agreement that were signed between the Palestinian authority (PA) and the Israeli regime in September 1995 Area C including Beit Jala is subject to Israel’s control and the Palestinians should apply for construction permits with its civil administration.
The applied research institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) said that Israel has escalated its violations against the Palestinians and their property as the expected visit of US president Barack Obama is drawing near in an attempt to impose more fait accompli on the ground.
“The Palestinian citizens living in the areas classified as C suffer from the Israeli civil administration’s refusal to give them construction permits in order to keep up with the [natural] population growth in these areas and they remain facing the threat of demolitions at the pretext of unlicensed building” ARIJ stated.
