BICOM

The EU has condemned the demolition of 13 buildings yesterday in East Jerusalem.

The uninhabited buildings are located in Wadi Hummus, on the outskirts of the village of Sur Baher. The demolition orders were issued by the IDF Central Command based on the claim that the buildings are located within 250 meters of the security barrier and can provide cover to terrorists to carry out attacks or use the buildings to smuggle weapons into Israel. The buildings were constructed by residents of Sur Baher without planning permission.

An EU spokesperson said: “In line with the EU’s longstanding position, we expect the Israeli authorities to immediately halt the ongoing demolitions. The continuation of this policy undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for a lasting peace and seriously jeopardises the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both States.”

The area is a unique case in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Whilst Wadi Hummus is technically in area A of the West Bank, under full Palestinian security and administrative control, it lies on the Israeli side of the security fence and therefore the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not have access to it and it does not provide it with any services.

On 17 May the Supreme Court agreed with the IDF Central Command that the buildings constituted a security threat and permitted their demolition.

Haaretz report that two out of the 13 buildings set for demolition are populated with some 17 residents. They also quote a resident who said he had planning permission from the PA.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement, which said: “Israel bears the full responsibility for the dangerous escalation in Sur Baher, which is part of the implementation of the deal of the century, whose goal is to bury the Palestinian issue.” The statement called on the international community to intervene quickly.

Israeli Minister of Public Security Erdan said on Twitter: “When illegal construction presents a security threat, Israel has the authority, including according to the Oslo Accords, to enforce the law against it. The Supreme Court even ruled in favour of such. The Palestinian purposely built their houses next to the security barrier!”

He added: “In the context of today’s demolitions in Jerusalem’s Wadi Al-Hummus, it is worth emphasising that the residents themselves were the ones who wanted to move to the west side of the security barrier, and the barrier was then diverted eastwards for them. Afterwards, they then began illegally building in a region situated in Jerusalem, even though they were in areas A, B and C.”