OCHA: Israel Demolished 17 Palestinian Structures, Displacing 49 People

Rasa - Israel demolished or seized 17 Palestinian structures in Area C of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem between 7 and 20 November on grounds of lack of building permits, displacing 49 Palestinians, including 25 children, and affecting another 81 people, according to the Protection of Civilians report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

News ID: 434998

Date: 27 November 2017 - 22:55

RNA - Eleven of the targeted structures, all but one non-residential, were in East Jerusalem, including three structures demolished by their owners to avoid fines, said the report. The remaining six structures were in three communities partially or totally located in Area C, including Ni'lin village in the Ramallah area, and Jiftlik and Frush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley, WAFA reported.

In addition, the Israeli army issued military orders demarcating areas where three Palestinian herding communities are located, and ordering the "removal of all properties" from them.

The affected communities are: Ein al Hilwe and Um al Jmal in the northern Jordan Valley, and Jabal al Baba, in the Jerusalem governorate. The latter is in the area of the E1 settlement plan, designed to link the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Adumim with Jerusalem.

As a result, a total of 520 structures, including 130 previously provided as aid, are at risk of destruction or seizure, and 419 people, about half of them children, are at heightened risk of forcible transfer.

OCHA said that on 10 November, the Israel military blocked, through the end of the reporting period, three of the four dirt roads connecting 12 communities in Massafer Yatta, southern Hebron, to the rest of the West Bank.

As a result, some 1,400 Palestinians have been forced to rely on long detours, disrupting their access to services and livelihoods. This area has been designated as 'firing zone' for military training, placing the residents at risk of forcible transfer.

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