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Israel demolishes more Palestinian homes in occupied West Bank

May 9, 2022 at 12:46 pm

Israeli defence forces are seen at a house of Palestinian prisoner Omar Jaradat after they demolished the house by placing explosives in the village of Silat al-Harithiya, near the town of Jenin, in occupied West Bank on 7 May 2022. [Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli army today demolished four Palestinian homes in the northern West Bank, under the pretext that they were built without a permit. Applications from Palestinians for building permits are rarely approved by the occupation state.

Two of the houses were in the village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus. According to the head of the local council, Tawfiq Al-Hajj Muhammad, Israeli troops entered the village early this morning, reported Anadolu.

“The two houses started to be built about a year and a half ago, and they were in the final stages of construction,” he explained. “Each one had two floors with a total area of around 400 square metres.”

According to the Israeli authorities, the demolition was justified because no permit was approved, and they are in a “firing zone”. In other words, the land is being confiscated, supposedly for military training purposes. This is often a ruse by the Israelis to clear land prior to illegal settlers moving in.

When local residents protested about the demolitions, the Israeli soldiers fired tear gas.

READ: OIC condemns Israel’s plans to demolish Palestinian villages

In Khirbet Ainun, east of Tubas, meanwhile, another two residential structures were demolished by the Israelis. According to state-owned Palestine TV, two rooms of around 100 square metres were also knocked down because they had no building permit.

Palestinians are prohibited from making any structural changes or building any new structure in so-called Area C without an Israeli permit, which is almost impossible to obtain.

The Oslo II Accord signed in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three zones: Area A under Palestinian nominal control; Area B under Israeli security control and Palestinian civil and administrative nominal control; and Area C under Israeli civil, administrative and security control. Area C covers around 60 per cent of the West Bank.