GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Dozens of Palestinians from the village of Bani Naim, east of Hebron, protested June 26 against the confiscation of their land after Israeli settlers set up a tent, a caravan and a barn for their sheep on some 20 dunums (around five acres) of village land with the aim of confiscating it June 21.

On June 19, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled the Civil Administration must freeze its military order on demolitions in Area C until the Israeli government gives its opinion on the petitions that several Palestinian and international human rights institutions such as Saint Yves Society submitted to it in protest against the decision.

Area C is a part of the West Bank populated by Palestinians and Israeli settlers and administered by Israel. On May 27, the Civil Administration ordered that uninhabited houses and facilities in Area C be demolished as well as buildings under construction. It gave Palestinians until June 17 to stop working on these buildings in preparation for their demolition.

Ayed Marar, the director-general of the legal department at the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), told Al-Monitor, “The order was due to enter into force on June 17, but on June 10, we made several objections through lawyers from the CWRC and international organizations at both the Israeli Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Israeli Supreme Court. This prompted the latter to order the Public Prosecutor's Office to issue a response to the objection June 19, but the Supreme Court did not receive any response, which prompted it to freeze the order.”