Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 February 2013
69. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the recent demolitions of Palestinian homes by the Israeli military in the Jordan Valley; his views that the demolitions are unlawful and amount to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention; and if he has raised the issue with the Israeli authorities. [8858/13]
View answerI have consistently drawn attention to demolition of Palestinian homes and property by Israeli forces, including in the Jordan Valley. This relentless process serves to poison relationships between the two peoples and is the exact opposite of what would be done by a government actively pursuing confidence building and reconciliation.
I am seriously concerned by a significant rise in these demolitions in recent weeks. Figures provided by the UN indicate that in January there were 139 demolitions of Palestinian structures including 59 residential structures and 80 animal shelters. The majority of these were in the Jordan valley. This represents a three-fold increase over the monthly average in 2012. These actions forcibly displaced 251 Palestinians, including 153 children, and affected many more. In some cases, troops returned days later to again destroy tents and temporary shelters supplied by aid agencies.
The main reason for these demolitions and evictions is to make room for the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. In other cases the land is cleared for military use, including training ranges, or even for parks. It is clear that all of these are just variations of an intention to force Palestinians off the land, to leave it in undisputed Israeli control. This occurs principally in Area C, which includes the whole Jordan valley, and in east Jerusalem. Regular destruction of wells, cisterns and other water and power infrastructure has the same objective. The usual pretext for demolition is that the structures lack planning permission. However, the authorities systematically refuse planning permission to Palestinian applicants, while at the same time applying completely different standards and responses to building by Israeli settlers.
These policies are clearly in violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. International law accepts that occupation authorities sometimes may have to demolish buildings, but this is usually in the context of imperative military necessity or indeed actual combat, neither of which would seem to be relevant to these cases. In addition, these actions are carried out in many cases to facilitate the continued expansion of Israeli settlements, which is itself contrary to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Ireland has consistently raised concerns about settlements and related issues such as demolitions, especially at EU level. The Foreign Affairs Council in May 2012 adopted detailed Conclusions on many of these issues, including demolitions and forced transfers. EU Missions on the ground are also actively engaged at present in exploring ways of helping the affected communities while our strong concerns and opposition to such practices have repeatedly been relayed to the Israeli authorities, both via our Embassy in Tel Aviv as well as through the Israeli Embassy in Dublin.
