UN Report: Israeli Demolitions in Palestine Soaring in June

Increase centers on military-run Area C of West Bank

Jason Ditz 

Posted onJune 21, 2020CategoriesNewsTagsIsrael, Palestine

While most attention in the area was on Israel’s planned annexation of much of Palestine, the latest UN report shows that Israel increased demolitions within the occupied territories by roughly 250 percent in the past few weeks.

61 or the 70 demolitions in the early part of June were in Area C of the West Bank, a region which is not just under military occupation, but under direct military rule. This has included a number of humanitarian aid sites, which Israel claims were built without permits.

That’s almost certainly the case, as construction permits on Palestinian-owned land are next to impossible to obtain, and in many parts of the West Bank, the Palestinians are used to just building without permit, and hoping that the occupation forces don’t demolish them.

Which isn’t to say that this demolition spree, a classic of the occupation era, is unrelated to the planned annexation. This territory is intended to be greatly annexed into Israel directly, and demolishing a bunch of Palestinian buildings before annexation may just be the start of a plan to wipe out existing signs of Palestinian life under occupation.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/06/21/un-report-israeli-demolitions-in-palestine-soaring-in-june/