Tadamun society: Israel demolished more than 20 buildings in W. Bank this year

The international Tadamun (solidarity) society for human rights reported Tuesday that the IOF troops demolished more than 20 homes and buildings from the beginning of this year until mid-February in the West Bank at the pretext that they were built either on confiscated lands or without license, while they razed dozens of homes to the ground in the Gaza Strip.

The society said that these Israeli serious violations come in the context of the Israeli policy of displacing Palestinians from their cities in the West Bank especially occupied Jerusalem where most of the demolitions were concentrated.

The society said that Israel also destroyed thousands of homes and structures during its war on Gaza and bombed entire neighborhoods to the ground in addition to destroying vital infrastructure.

According to the society, Israeli destroyed 45 mosques completely, 34 medical facilities including eight hospitals.

The society pointed out that this Israeli repressive policy is not confined to the demolition of houses, but it goes beyond this, where the IOA arrests Palestinian home and land owners, seizes houses, and evict their residents by force in order to give these houses for Jewish families as is the case in occupied Jerusalem and Al-Khalil.

In another context, the ministry of agriculture in Gaza deplored the Israeli decision to confiscate 1, 700 dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands located in the southwest of Bethlehem city and annex them to the Efrat settlement.

In a press statement received by the PIC, the ministry warned that the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in Bethlehem means that the entire city will be encircled by settlement outposts after the establishment of the settlements of Abu Ghuneim in the north, Gilo in the west, Efrat and Tekoa in the south, and the green zone in the east.

The ministry said that this settlement expansion strangulated Bethlehem citizens economically, where they depend on farming, calling for confronting this Israeli arrogance through supporting legally and financially the steadfastness of the Palestinians in Bethlehem.