By IRNA,
London : Amnesty International has condemned the intensification by Israel of the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank after a further 74 were destroyed in the Jordan Valley earlier this week.
“These recent demolitions intensify concerns that this is part of a government strategy to remove the Palestinian population from the parts of the West Bank known as Area C,” said Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philip Luther.
“The current system whereby the Israeli military has sole responsibility for what Palestinians can or cannot build in the majority of the occupied West Bank is unacceptable,” Luther said.
“Planning and building decisions should lie with the local Palestinian communities,” he said in a statement calling on Israel to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and other buildings.
The latest demolitions were carried out by the Israeli military in the villages of Hmayyir and ‘Ein Ghazal in the area of al-Farisiya on Monday, displacing 107 people, including 52 children.
The destructions include residential tents, separate kitchens and washrooms, agricultural buildings, animal pens, water tanks, wheat for human consumption and animal fodder.
Palestinian communities in Hmayyir and ‘Ein Ghazal have not previously experienced demolitions in the past, unlike many other areas of the Jordan Valley, which have been designated as a “closed military zone” or have been taken over by illegal Israeli settlers.
According to UN figures, at least 198 Palestinian structures in the West Bank have been demolished this year, resulting in the forced displacement of almost 300 Palestinians, half of them children, while 600 others have also been affected.
Under the Oslo Accords, Israeli authorities maintain that they retain both civil and military control over areas designated as Area C, which make up more than 60 per cent of the West Bank.