Planning, Restrictions Building Land Permits Confiscation on Use and and Home Access Demolitions Introduction 101 The suspension of these proceedings has arisen out of the desire not to prejudice the rights of the many absentees and the ownership rights of nationals of Jordan who have land in the area but reside outside Judea and Samaria.350 Documentation The Israeli administration only recognizes documents issued by institutions and engineers it certifies.351 Israeli authorities largely refuse to recognize other documents held by Palestinians as proof of ownership necessary for registration. Military Order 25 and later amendments, specifically Military Order 796 of 1979, made it impossible for Palestinians to enter into land and property transactions without prior authorization from the appropriate military authorities. These measures limit Palestinians’ attempts to sell their land or bequeath it to their children.352 Restrictions also apply to the size of houses, subdividing land and adding floors based on the archaic British Mandate laws.353 The complex system of acquiring authorization may also be applied to renovations. The Israeli Civil Administration has justified demolitions of all or parts of a structure based on ‘unauthorized renovations’. Appealing ‘administrative’ demolitions The Israeli Civil Administration often issues a “stop-work order”354 followed by a “demolition order”. In the case of the latter, the owner of the targeted structure will find instructions to challenging the order with a specific sub-committee of the Israeli Civil Administration. Typically, an administrative demolition order allows thirty days for recourse.355 If no objection is raised and the homeowner does not demolish the structure herself, the Israeli Civil Administration claims the right to demolish anytime after the thirty-day period. Demonstrating that 350 R. Shehadeh, From Occupation to Interim Accords: Israel And the Palestinian Territories (1997), 256. 351 Palestinian Authority documents are not recognized, but can add legitimacy to a case that is in Areas A or B. 352 BADIL and COHRE, Ruling Palestine, 120. 353 See: Military Order (unnumbered), Order Concerning Law of Urban and Rural Planning (Regulations Concerning Supervision Over Construction) (Restrictions on the Height of Buildings in Ramallah South) 26 January 1970, was consolidated into Military Order 1651 of 2009: Order Regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) 5770-2009; Also see: Order Concerning Supervision Over Construction (Provisional Regulations) 1985, 1985. 354 A stop-work order paves the way for the Inspection Subcommittee to discuss in its session either the destruction of the structure or re-establishing the situation which would have existed before the construction took place. 355 JLAC, Concealed Intentions: Israel’s Human Rights Violations Through the Manipulation of Zoning and Planning Laws in ‘Area C’, 20.