JERUSALEM, December 3, 2016 (WAFA) – A United Nations humanitarian agency said in a report published Friday that Israeli demolition of Palestinian structures, some of them provided as humanitarian assistance, under the pretext they were built without a permit and the resulting displacement of dozens of civilians continued in November.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (OCHA) said in its Protection of Civilians weekly report covering the period of the last two weeks of November that the Israeli authorities demolished or requisitioned 18 structures, displacing 42 people, including 30 children, and affecting the livelihoods of more than 60 others.
In Ma‘azi Jaba, one of the affected communities in the Jerusalem governorate, the authorities demolished nine residential and livelihood-related structures previously provided as humanitarian assistance. This is one of 46 communities in the central West Bank at risk of forcible transfer due an Israeli plan to "relocate" them, said the report.
In addition, said OCHA, and citing usage for illegal construction, the Israeli authorities seized three tractors and two bulldozers in five Area C communities - Khirbet al-Ras al Ahmar and Ibziq, both in Tubas district, Jit in Qalqiliya district and Al-Shuyukh in the Hebron district.
In Ya‘bad, a town north of Jenin, Israeli forces seized four vehicles and 150 tons of wood from workshops producing coal, citing the violation of environmental regulations, affecting the source of livelihood of at least 1,000 workers.
On five occasions, Israeli forces temporarily displaced 210 people, including 123 children, from two herding communities in the northern Jordan Valley, Khirbet al Ras al Ahmar and Ibziq, for several hours each time, during Israeli military training.
The two communities face regular demolitions and access restrictions, giving rise to concerns over the risk of forcible transfer.
On another three occasions, Israeli forces conducted military training exercises in the vicinity of the Palestinian herding community of Khirbet Tel al Himma in the same area, which has had demolitions two times since late September 2016, resulting in property damage and access constraints, according to the OCHA report.
The report said that within the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, at Shu‘fat and Qalandiya checkpoints in East Jerusalem, both of whom were suspected of stabbing attempts. No Israeli soldier was injured in either of these incidents.
The Israeli authorities withheld the corpses of the killed Palestinians, leaving a total six Palestinian corpses being held.
Since the beginning of 2016, 73 Palestinians, including 21 children and eight Israelis, including a girl, were killed in attacks and suspected attacks carried out by West Bank Palestinians, said OCHA. Responses by Israeli forces to some of these incidents have raised concern about possible excessive use of force and extra-judicial executions.
Another Palestinian man, 22-year-old, was shot with live ammunition and killed by Israeli forces during clashes in a demonstration next to the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip on 18 November.
Israeli forces also injured 34 Palestinians, including four children, during multiple clashes across the occupied territories.
Israeli forces also conducted 252 search and arrest operations and arrested 243 Palestinians in the West Bank. The Jerusalem governorate accounted for the highest portion of arrests, 103, of whom 35 are children.
Three Israeli settler attacks leading to Palestinian injuries or property damage were recorded, including: the physical assault and injury of three Palestinian men in two separate incidents in the H2 area of Hebron city; and the stoning and damaging of a Palestinian – plated vehicle in Hebron.
Additionally, at least three incidents of attack and intimidation were reported against Palestinians, in East Jerusalem, Hebron and Tubas.
M.K.
