Last update - 00:00 26/08/2007
Kfar Sava Court rules entering ruins of Homesh is not illegal
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
The Kfar Sava Juvenile Court ruled that entering the ruins of the evacuated settlement of Homesh is not a criminal offense. The ruling can no longer be appealed as more than 30 days have passed since the ruling was made.
Justice David Gadol rejected the state's position and ruled that a girl who had been arrested for attempting to enter the ruins of Homesh did not violate any law and, therefore, could not be remanded.
The judge ruled that the Disengagement Law, on which the state bases its prohibition on entering the ruins of Homesh, was legislated in order to enable the evacuation of the settlement as part of the disengagement two years ago, and must not be utilized for a different purpose.
The prosecution presented the court with an additional legal basis for banning entry to the Homesh ruins - an order signed by Brigadier General Noam Tivon, commander of the IDF forces in the West Bank. According to the order, the area of the Homesh ruins is part of a closed military zone.
Regarding the order, justice Gadol wrote that "the defendant should take her case to a military court, since a civil court has nothing to do with the apparent violation of an order by a military commander. Under these circumstances, there is seemingly no evidence that she was in violation of the law. The suspect was wrongfully detained, and holding her in custody is also problematic, since she, seemingly, committed no offense."
Judge Gadol also wrote that the legal status of the settlements is blurry, and must be clarified.
"After the evacuation of Homesh, Ganim and Kadim, unlike the evacuation of the Gaza Strip settlements, as far as I know, the areas were not transferred to what is known as the Palestinian Authority.
"As I recall, there were pictures of Palestinians from the area looting the property that was left behind by the evacuating forces. For this reason it is important to legally define whether this territory has area C status," he continued.
Area C in the West Bank is under Israeli security and civil control.