“Where Villages Stood: Israel’s Continuing Violations of International Law in Occupied Latroun, 1967-2007

Al-Haq has recently published

“Where Villages Stood: Israel’s Continuing Violations of
International Law in Occupied Latroun, 1967-2007.”
The report can be obtained from Al-Haq upon request,
or downloaded electronically here.

The result of a comprehensive research process conducted
with the assistance of Israeli organisation Zochrot, the
report draws on testimonies from Palestinian civilians and
Israeli soldiers to tell the story of the villages of 'Imwas,
Yalo and Beit Nouba.

Located in the Latroun enclave of the West Bank, north-west
of Jerusalem, these three Palestinian villages were razed
to the ground by the Israeli army upon its occupation of the
area in June 1967, despite the fact that it was met with
no resistance. The study presents revealing information
unearthed in Israeli government archives, demonstrating
the intent behind this destruction. The civilian residents
of the villages, numbering up to 10,000, were forcibly
transferred out of the area. Over 40 years later, and
despite repeated attempts, the villagers have been
prevented from returning to their land to rebuild their
houses and their lives. They remain displaced in the
West Bank, Jordan, and beyond.

This perpetuating displacement amounts to a continuing violation
of international law for which Israel and its agents remain
responsible. Numerous measures in further violation of international
law have been put in place in order to buttress the prohibition on
the Palestinian owners’ and residents’ rightful return to their land,
including the construction of an illegal Jewish-Israeli settlement
and the establishment of a recreational park for Israelis by the
Jewish National Fund of Canada on the occupied land of the
destroyed Palestinian villages. The area is closed off completely
from the rest of the West Bank and treated as if it were part of
the sovereign territory of Israel, in clear violation of one of the most
fundamental principles of international law – the prohibition on
acquisition of territory through the threat or use of force.

Al-Haq has also recently completed a documentary on the
story of the Latroun villages which will be released in the coming weeks.