GAZA, (PIC)-- Rafah municipality announced on Thursday that it was suspending the campaign against houses built illegally on government land until matters are sorted out between residents of those homes and the government land authority.
During a press conference he jointly held with the head of the land authority, Ibrahim Radwan, head of the Rafah municipal council, Isa al-Nashar, said that the government was taking the necessary legal action against those embroiled in the sale of government-owned land to private individuals.
He added that the municipality will not allow any new structures on those lands, pointing out that some 422 dunums (1dunum= 1000 sq. meters) in the Barahma neighbourhood to the west of Rafah district have been illegally arrogated by private individuals.
He also said that the former head of the land authority, Fraih Abu Maddeen, [during Fatah rule of the Strip] had taken the decision to take over the arrogated land, adding that inaction encouraged others to build on government land, that is why the municipality had to take action.
Ibrahim Radwan, for his part, said that the decision to restore all arrogated government lands to the government was a decision taken since the time of president Arafat.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, bulldozers, protected by Palestinian police, moved in on Sunday into the Barahma neighbourhood and demolished 20 homes making 150 people homeless.
The move has upset Hamas supporters who said that despite the fact that the legal process took its course, it was wrong to make 150 people homeless, and unless alternative accommodation for these families was made available, then demolitions should not have taken place.
Detractors of Hamas had field day with some news agencies claiming that 40 Palestinian homes were destroyed by Hamas in Gaza.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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