OCHA: In November, Israel Demolishe 178 Palestinian-owned Structures

Jerusalem, MINA – In November, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished or forced people to demolish 178 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank.

It is the highest such figure in a single month since the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory began systematically documenting in 2009.

The month’s incidents resulted in the displacement of 158 people and otherwise affected the livelihoods or access to services of over 1,000 others, said OCHA in its monthly report on West Bank Demolitions and Displacement as quoted from Wafa.

All structures, except for one demolished on punitive grounds, were located in Area C of the occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem and targeted due to a lack of building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.

Of the affected structures, 43 had been provided as humanitarian aid, for a total cost of 82,000 euros. It is the largest number of EU-funded structures targeted in a single month since January 2017, bringing the total number of such structures demolished or seized since the start of 2020 to 114.

About 50 percent of all structures targeted this month were in small herding communities in sections of Area C designated closed for Israeli military training /‘firing zones’/.

The largest such incident took place on 3 November in Humsa Al Bqai’a, in the northern Jordan Valley, where the Israeli authorities demolished 83 structures, or about three-quarters of the community, including 29 structures provided as humanitarian aid. A total of 73 people, including 41 children were displaced as a result, but have been able to remain in the area following the delivery of emergency shelters and other assistance.

Additional 13 structures were targeted in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron, most of which is also declared a ‘firing zone’.

This included a donor-funded water network, part of which had already been dismantled in October, which served some 700 people from four communities. This incident took place on 25 November on the basis of an expedited procedure /Military Order 1797/, while legal partners were presenting the case in court, to try and halt the removal of the network. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)