catch 22, israeli style; 

The Civil Administration, an agency of the Defense Ministry, has warned the residents of the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta that their homes will be demolished by October 1 if they do not agree to a relocation plan it has proposed.

The warning came just weeks after the residents won a victory in the High Court of Justice, which ordered the army and the police to enable them to return to the village after they fled in late October last year, following persistent violence and harassment directed at them by local extremist settlers.

Following the issuance of the warning, Dr. Quamar Mishirqi-Assad, an attorney who represents the residents of the village, accused the state of seeking to continue the work of the settlers who had been trying to oust local Palestinians from their homes. She pointed out that the demolition orders the Civil Administration is now seeking to carry out have been in abeyance for seven years.

Khirbet Zanuta is a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills region of the West Bank, in Area C where Israel has full security and civil control. The stone structures built there over the years by its Palestinian residents are illegal since there is no zoning masterplan for the village and in general are extremely rare for Palestinians in Area C.

Following years of legal proceedings in the High Court, the state agreed in 2017 not to implement demolition orders issued against the buildings in Khirbet Zanuta in 2007 while it drew up new planning criteria. The court also ordered the state to give 30 days’ notice if it did decide to implement the demolition orders.........more.........