UN: Zionist Troops Demolish, Seize 30 Palestinian Structures in 2 Weeks

Date: 31 July 2020 - 22:09

News ID: ۸۱۲۲۷

WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the Zionist regime’s authorities have either demolished or seized 30 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, displacing more than two dozen people in two weeks.
In its bi-weekly report, the UN office said the demolitions occurred from 14 to 27 July and displaced 25 people and affected around 140 others.
All the demolitions took place in the so-called Area C of the West Bank, whose management of resources, planning, and construction are under the full control of the occupying regime.
The Zionist regime strictly restricts Palestinian construction or development to less than one percent of the area.
The report, carried by Palestine’s official Wafa news agency, said in one incident on July 21, the occupying regime’s authorities demolished a structure on the outskirts of the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil, which was planned to be used as a COVID-19 testing center.
At least three other structures were demolished under the occupying regime’s military order 1797, which permits the removal of "unauthorized” buildings within 96 hours from the delivery of a notice.
Rights groups have time and again raised concern over procedure, which largely bars affected people from being heard before a judicial body, the report added.
The Area C accounts for more than 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, and forms a significant part of a future Palestine state under the so-called two-state solution.
Zionist regime authorities usually demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own homes or pay the demolition costs to the municipality if they do not.
Since early March, when the COVID-19 emergency started, the occupying regime’s authorities have demolished or seized 19 inhabited homes that were in place prior to that date, displacing 104 Palestinians, the OCHA said, adding the buildings were demolished since they lacked Israeli-issued permits.