RNA - The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported on Monday that Israeli bulldozers demolished the residential building in the village of al-Zayyem under the pretext it had been built without a permit.
The agency noted that Israeli forces cordoned off the area where the building was located before bulldozers proceeded to demolish it.
This is while the village, categorized as Area B, is under Palestinian Civil Administration and that building permits in Area B are usually issued by local municipal councils and not by the Israeli regime, according to Wafa.
The demolition of Palestinian homes and structures most commonly takes place in Area C, where nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits are denied by the Israeli authorities.
A recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that Israeli authorities have demolished or seized 1,089 Palestinian-owned structures since the start of the last year up until December 28. The demolitions have left some 1,593 Palestinians homeless and affected the lives of another 7,101, according to the report released on December 29, 2016.
The UN also notes that the “vast majority” of the Palestinian structures are destroyed or seized because the Israeli policies made it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits.
Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures have raised alarm among diplomats and human rights groups over what they regard as the Tel Aviv regime’s continued violation of international law.
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