QALQILIA, February 15, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Monday notified Palestinians in Qalqilia district to stop the construction of 10 residential structures, under the pretext of construction without an Israeli permit, according to local sources.

Mohammad Abu esh-Sheikh, who monitors settlement activities in Qalqilia, told WAFA that the Israeli military broke into al-Hasamis locality, east of Qalqilia city, and notified local Palestinians to stop the ongoing construction of the seven homes, under the pretext of construction without permission.

Army also broke into nearby Arab er-Ramadin, a Bedouin area to the west of Qalqilia, and ordered local Palestinian Bedouins to stop the ongoing construction of the three homes, under the same pretext.

The two areas are located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli military and civil control.

Issuance of construction permits by Israeli authorities for Palestinians in Area C, unlike for Israeli settlers, requires unreasonable fees that most Palestinians cannot afford to pay.

Over the course of 2015, Israel demolished 521 structures in Area C as well as in East Jerusalem, displacing 636 people, according to the UN monitoring group OCHA.

The vast majority of these demolitions were carried out on the grounds of construction without a permit. Between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 percent of applications for building permits in Area C were approved by Israeli occupation authorities, OCHA adds.

The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) explains in a special report that “in almost all cases Palestinians have no choice but to build ‘illegally’ as permits are almost impossible to obtain.”

“Many Palestinians have suffered multiple displacements, having lost their homes and livelihoods more than once. Forced displacement has a series of immediate and longer-term physical, socio-economic and psycho-social impacts on Palestinian families.”

M.N