Israel demolishes homes in West Bank, fires tear gas at protestors 

The Israeli Occupation Forces bulldozed two houses in Jalbun town, based east of Jenin in the Occupied West Bank.

According to Wafa news agency, the heavily-armed Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, gas bombs and sound bombs to disperse the Palestinians protesting the home demolitions.

The Head of Jalbun village Council, Ibrahim Abul-Rub, said that a tear gas canister ripped his ear and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.

He said, “Israeli forces drove two military bulldozers into the village, where the heavy machinery demolished a 200-square-metre house that was under construction, belonging to Khaled Abul-Rub and a 120-square-metre house belonging to Amir Abu Seif.”

He added that the demolition of Abu Seif’s home resulted in the displacement of his five-member family and noted that the houses are adjacent to Israel’s apartheid wall that runs from the Salem checkpoint to the village.

READ: Israel approves decision to demolish school east of Ramallah

Israel’s widely practised policy of home demolitions and destruction of other property targets entire families. Such demolitions are regarded as illegal collective punishment and are a violation of international human rights law.

The demolitions of the Palestinian homes were ordered under the pretext that they lack the necessary building licenses, reported Wafa. 

Palestinians in Area C – territories that, under the Oslo Accords, are under full Israeli control – have great difficulty getting building permits. Most Palestinian communities do not have master plans, while others cannot get expansion plans approved.

The Zionist State, meanwhile, approves the construction of thousands of residential units within illegal settlements built on occupied Palestinian land in the area.

The building permits are charged at extortionate prices and are unaffordable for most Palestinians, creating a legal loophole for Israel to annex more land and leave Palestinians in limbo by preventing them from developing infrastructure.