UN sees escalation of Israel attacks on Palestinians

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA- oPT) said over the past three weeks Israel has escalated its demolition and confiscation of properties owned by Palestinians in “Area C” of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

OCHA explained in its “Protection of Civilians” report covering the Israeli violations against the Palestinians from 12 May to 1 June, that Israeli occupation forces demolished or seized as many as 59 Palestinian-owned structures in “Area C” and East Jerusalem, under the pretext that they lacked building permits which led to the displacement of 37 people and affecting over 260 others.

“In Area C, 45 structures were demolished in 16 communities, seven enacting Military Order 1797, which provides for the expedited removal of unlicensed structures deemed as “new”,” the report said, adding that half of the 14 structures demolished in East Jerusalem were in Al- Walaja village, located on the “Jerusalem side” of the illegal Separation Wall.

According to the report, the Israeli High Court of Justice accepted a petition not to punitively demolish an apartment in Beit Kahil village in Hebron where a woman and three children live which belongs to the family of a Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli near the illegal Gush Etzion settlement bloc in August 2019.

The report said the Israeli court’s decision is the first of its kind since 2016.

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