According to U.N. figures, Isreali authorities destroyed 590 Palestinian structures, displacing 1,177 people, in 2014 alone. The United Nations has condemned Israel for demolishing 77 Palestinian homes and displacing dozens of families in the West Bank this week. “In the past three days, 77 Palestinians, over half of them children, have been made homeless,” said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement released Friday night.
U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator, and author of the statement, James W. Rawley, also said some of the demolished structures were provided by the international community “to support vulnerable families.” “At least eight of these structures were funded by international donors,” said Rawley, demanding that the demolitions stop. “Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law and create unnecessary suffering and tension,” said Rawley. The recent spate of demolitions took place in East Jerusalem and the West Bank districts of Ramallah, Jericho and Hebron. According to OCHA, Israel carried out a record number of demolitions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2014, destroying 590 Palestinian owned structures and displacing 1,177 people. This is “the highest level of displacement in the West Bank since OCHA began systematically monitoring the issue in 2008,” said Rawley. In 2014, the Israeli government approved nearly 17,000 new illegal housing units on Palestinian land in 2014, a Palestinian official denounced Jan. 15, 2014. |
