UN: Israel Demolishes 25 Palestinian Structures in Two Weeks

New York, MINA – In the period between 11 to 24 August, Israel demolished or seized a total of 25 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied territories under the pretext of lack of Israeli-issued building permits.

It also displaced 32 Palestinians and otherwise affecting around 160 others, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Fifteen of these structures, all but two of which were livelihood-related, were demolished in eight communities in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli military control, including two in the communities of Mughayyir al Abeed and al Fakheit, both in southern West Bank district of Hebron, claiming they were located in a closed Israeli military training zone, said the biweekly Protection of Civilians report.

An additional six livelihood structures were demolished in one incident in Area C al Isawiya neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem while the rest of the structures were located in East Jerusalem, including an under-construction residential building in the Jabal al Mukkabir neighborhood, which triggered clashes resulting in one injury, WAFA reported.

Five of the structures in East Jerusalem were demolished by their owners, who were forced to do so to avoid heavy fines. So far this year, about half of all 118 demolitions in East Jerusalem were carried out by the owners, following the issuance of demolition orders by the Israeli authorities for lack of building permit, said OCHA.

In other incidents, OCHA said one Palestinian was injured and 650 trees and saplings and other Palestinian-owned property were vandalized by assailants believed to be Israeli settlers.

In one incident, settlers stoned and injured a Palestinian worker on a land registration project in Huwwara, south of Nablus in the north of the West Bank. In four other incidents, settlers uprooted 400 olive and almonds saplings in Asira al-Shamaliya and six vine saplings in Qaryut, both in Nablus area; cut down 244 olive trees in Khirbet al Tawawin near Hebron, and damaged 16 dunums of wheat and barley crops by grazing sheep on cultivated land near Sa’ir village, also in Hebron region.

Also, settlers damaged seven cars in Yasuf village, near Salfit in the north of West Bank, and a quarry near Urif village in Nablus area, where they also sprayed graffiti, while throwing stones at cars driving near the illegal settlements of Yitzhar in the north and Kiryat Arba in the south of the West Bank.

The remaining two incidents were in Hebron, where settlers damaged an animal shelter and fences and stole property in al-Tuwani and the H2 area of Hebron city.(T/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)