Palestinians served demolition notices by Israel

Israeli forces sent out demolition notices to Palestinian villagers based in Husan, west of Bethlehem, on August 26th, as reported by Middle East Eye via Wafa news agency.

The head of the Husan Village Council, Ramzi Hamamra, has spoken to Wafa about the matter, saying that the commercial properties in the area all belong to Palestinian residents. Wafa has confirmed that the demolitions have been a method utilised by Israeli forces to significantly reduce Palestinian development in the occupied West Bank.

The occupied West Bank has also seen the acceleration of destruction of Palestinian refugee camps. On June 17th, Israel’s Supreme Court authorised the demolition of 90 buildings in the Jenin camp. This is one of the West Bank’s largest camps, which holds a significant history. Hatem, a Palestinian who has lived in Jenin for more than four decades, had to watch as his home was bulldozed by Israelis.

“I started crying when I saw my house from here,” he said, adding that “nothing is left but ruins.” He described his situation as “devastating,” and is unable to return home to Jenin. This is due to the army preventing him from doing so. “I tried to go three times, and three times the army shot at me.”

Palestinians have also accused Israeli settlers of theft during a raid in the occupied West Bank. On July 18th, Palestinians Bedouins said that Israeli settlers stole hundreds of animals, and even killed 117 sheep during a raid. They said that this was an attempt made by Israel to force farmers out of their land. The UN commented on this, saying that there has been a surge in violence by Jewish settlers. The Palestinians have accused Israel’s army for enabling this, and have claimed that several settler groups coordinated the attack.

Middle East Eye via Wafa, Maghrebi.org