Ben-Gvir demands demolition of six Palestinian structures

Israel’s extreme far-right Public Security Minister has demanded the demolition of what he claims are six illegal structures built by Palestinians in Area C over the past month, in addition to Khan Al-Ahmar, Israeli media reported on Sunday. Itamar Ben-Gvir also commented angrily during the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday about the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost in the northern occupied West Bank.

During the meeting, he presented a document with aerial photos of what he alleged were illegal Palestinian structures.

“The law is the law and there is one law for all,” said the far-right minister. “I will not accept racism against Jews on my watch. Just as the defence minister chose to destroy a Jewish outpost, we demand that illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] be destroyed.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “We apply the law in a balanced way. Today, we demolished three Arab homes in Bethlehem and Nablus.”

The construction of several thousand settlement units in Israeli settlements built in the occupied West Bank is approved each year by the Israeli Civil Administration, whereas authorisation for Palestinian construction in the same territory is very rarely issued.

All Israeli settlements for Jews only, and so-called settlement outposts, are illegal under international law. Outposts are even illegal under Israeli law.

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