Israeli NGO seeks demolition of unauthorized road in Palestinian city of Rawabi

City itself is located in PA-controlled Area B of West Bank; a section of the road, however, is located in Area C, which is under Israeli military and civilian control.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: FEBRUARY 3, 2016 05:58
The city of Rawabi (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
The city of Rawabi
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
The right-wing non-governmental group Regavim seeks the demolition of an unauthorized road built in the newly created Palestinian city of Rawabi.
The city is located in Area A and B of the West Bank, which is under the civilian control of the Palestinian Authority.
A section of the road, however, is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli military and civilian control.
Although the road is on private Palestinian property, Rawabi needs permission from the IDF’s Civil Administration to pave that section of the road.
It began work on the road two years ago, without such approvals, Regavim says.
At that time, Regavim turned to the Civil Administration and asked that it halt the construction. It took time for the Civil Administration to acknowledge the property was in Area C and not B, said Regavim spokesman Avraham Binyamin.
The group than turned to the High Court of Justice, which heard the case on Monday.
The attorneys for the Civil Administration and for Rawabi informed the court that the roadwork would be frozen until approvals were issued for its completion.
The Civil Administration’s attorney added that the IDF was working to retroactively legalize the road but the process was a lengthy one.
The court said it would revisit the matter in half-a-year to see if the legalization process was progressing.
Rawabi, a new city, was created by Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri. It is designed for a population of 40,000. The first families moved in this summer. Two date, according to the project’s web site, two of its neighborhoods are populated.
Masri’s spokespeople were not able to comment on the issue of the road by deadline.