The Israeli occupation authorities demolished today a Palestinian-owned house for construction in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Rateb Jabour, an activist in the south of the West Bank, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers demolished the two-room house in an area known as Wad el-Awar, south of Hebron (Al-Khalil), alleging it was built without a permit.
1/ @nmladenov: On 14 & 15 Oct, #Israel|i authorities advanced some 5,000 settlement housing units. This resumption of major settlement activity, which follows an 8-month break in Area C housing advancements, is of great concern…
— UNSCO (@UNSCO_MEPP) October 26, 2020
International rights organizations said Israel has increased its demolition of Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and occupied East Jerusalem this year. They said over 550 structures were demolished last year under various pretexts, but mainly for construction without a permit.
“For those living in ‘Area C’, however, the degree of control is so suffocating that every aspect of Palestinian life – freedom of movement, education, access to clean water, and so on – is controlled by a complex system of Israeli military ordinances that have no regard whatsoever for the well-being of the beleaguered communities,” Palestinian journalist and editor of the Palestine Chronicle wrote.
This is how the Occupation operates: Israel Is Proud to Have Halted International Projects for Palestinians in Area C https://t.co/BrRa1YMguO
— MachsomWatch (@machsomwatch) September 15, 2020
Baroud added that the story of Area C is “a microcosm of the tragic and larger story of all Palestinians. It is also a reflection of the sinister nature of Israeli colonialism and military occupation, where occupied Palestinians lose their land, their water, their freedom of movement and eventually, even the most basic medical care.”
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
