JERUSALEM, March 2, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Wednesday demolished a Palestinian-owned building in Jerusalem, as well as demolished residential structures and animal barns near Nablus, according to local sources.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police accompanied by bulldozers broke into at-Tour neighborhood in the city, where they demolished a three-storey building under the pretext of construction without a permit. The demolished building comprised six apartments.
Israeli authorities had not issued a notification regarding their intent to demolish the building.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops stormed the village of Tana, east of Nablus, and proceeded to demolish a number of Palestinian-owned residential structures and animal barns, also for being built without an Israeli permit.
The same structures were demolished on February 9 but were rebuilt once again, locals told WAFA.
The village is located in Area C in the West Bank, under complete Israeli control.
Issuance of construction permits by Israeli authorities for Palestinians in Area C and in Jerusalem, 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.”
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