UN concerned about increasing enforced displacement of Palestinians

The Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes is increasing the danger of the enforced displacement of Palestinian communities, Al-Resalah newspaper reported UNOCHA saying yesterday.

In a report titled “Fragmented Lives” published yesterday, UNOCHA said: “The forced displacement and dispossession of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories takes place in the context of Israel’s prolonged occupation and lack of respect for international law.”

The report said that the “number of Palestinian structures demolished, or dismantled and confiscated by the Israeli authorities across the West Bank sharply increased in the first four months of 2016, surpassing the figures for all of 2015 (598 vs. 548).”

“Overall, 858 Palestinians, around half of them children (416), were displaced, compared to 787 people in the whole 2015. As in 2015, the vast majority of demolitions took place in small herding communities in Area C, exacerbating the risk of forcible transfer.”

It stated that the “punitive demolitions also continued during 2016 with 12 homes targeted alongside the advancement of legislation that would allow the punitive expulsion of families of suspected perpetrators of attacks from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.”

According to the report, the planning system applied in Area C favours illegal Israeli settlement interests over the needs of the protected population and makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

“Between 2010 and 2014, Palestinians submitted 2,020 applications for building permits in Area C, of which 33 were approved,” the report said.

Regarding Gaza, the report said that the reconstruction and repair of homes destroyed and damaged during the 2014 Israeli offensive continued during the first quarter of 2016.

However, it stated that between 3 April and 22 May, Israel suspended the entry of cement to Gaza for the private sector over claims of using cement by resistance groups to build tunnels. “This delayed the reconstruction and repair of homes of internally displaced people,” the report said.

The estimated number of internally displaced people in Gaza by the end of 2015 was 90,000, according to the report.

Head of OCHA in the occupied Palestinian territories David Carden said: “This month, Palestinians enter their 50th year under Israeli occupation. ‘Fragmented Lives’ shows clearly the devastating impact of this ongoing situation, mainly on 4.8 million Palestinians who are increasingly vulnerable due to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”

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