Israel to raze more Palestinian homes in West Bank

Palestinian news sources quoted Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of Israeli settlements’ files in the northern West Bank, as saying on Friday that the Israeli regime issued demolition orders to tear down four homes, agricultural sheds and an electricity power line, plus water and electricity networks, in Douma village, south of Nablus.

He also said Israeli forces destroyed an agricultural road, east of Douma, preventing the villagers from reaching their lands.

The official also stated that the Israeli regime’s Civil Administration Office, which works under the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank, has cited the lack of “permit” as the reason for razing the properties, giving the owners 45 days to file appeals.

Last month, the United Nations said Israel’s demolition campaign against Palestinian homes and structures across the occupied West Bank had increased four times compared to 2015, and left a record number of 808 Palestinians displaced since the start of 2016.

The UN announced in late April that a total of 588 Palestinian structures had been razed since January, adding that the demolitions have affected more than 1,000 people as they have lost structures related to their source of income.

The majority of demolitions took place in Area C of the West Bank, which is the largest division in the occupied territory as it comprises 60 percent of the land, and is under full Israeli military control.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement on April 8 that 124 Palestinians, including 60 children, had been made homeless in a single day as a result of Israeli demolitions in the West Bank.

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