United Nations has demanded that Israel stops the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank following a report on the dramatic increase in homes being knocked down. “The current policy and practice of demolition causes extensive human suffering and should end,” said the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Maxwell Gaylard.

According to the report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 622 Palestinian homes were demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2011, forcibly displacing almost 1,100 people, over half of them children. Gaylard said that on Thursday he visited the village of Anata near Jerusalem, which has recently seen seven Palestinian homes destroyed. “He was informed that bulldozers and troops had arrived in the middle of the night of 23 January and that 52 people, including 29 children, had been forced from their homes, which were then completely destroyed,” a UN statement said.

Alia Fouad Lahali is seen in front of the ruins of her home demolished by the Israeli authorities on January 23 during the night, in the West Bank city of Anata, Wednesday. The same night, 7 other homes were demolished in another part of Anata, leaving in total more than 52 Palestinians homeless (Photo: Activestills.org)

Israeli authorities also demolished Beit Arabiya – ICAHD (The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) Peace Centre on Monday night, January 23, for the fifth time, along with the Abu Omar home rebuilt by ICAHD in the summer of 2011, and structures in the East Anata Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin compound.

Beit Arabiya, Located in the West Bank town of Anata (Area C) just to the northeast of Jerusalem, is a living symbol of resistance to Occupation and the desire for justice and peace. Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children, a Palestinian family whose home has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and rebuilt each time by ICAHD’s Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists, before being demolished again Monday night. Israeli authorities also demolished the home of the Abu Omar family, rebuilt by ICAHD in July 2011.

“This seems like a concerted, yet futile, effort to discourage ICAHD from rebuilding demolished Palestinian homes” said ICAHD Director Jeff Halper. Only earlier this month , ICAHD extended an invitation to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing to visit Beit Arabiya during her country visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “It is our hope, that while we cannot extend the same hospitality to the Special Reporter, Prof. Raquel Rolnik will visit the ruins of Beit Arabiya, and report on the utter cruelty, and illegality of Israeli policies and practices, and that members of the international community will follow in her footsteps” said ICAHD Co-Director Itay Epstein.

Gaylard visited demolished Anata homes and ICAHD peace center Beit Arabiya on Thursday, spoke with affected Palestinian families, and was briefed by ICAHD’s Jeff Halper and Itay Epshtain. Following yesterday’s visit, UNHC called for an immediate end to the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israel in the occupied West Bank.

“Israel as the Occupying Power has a fundamental responsibility to protect the Palestinian civilian population under its control and to ensure their dignity and wellbeing. The wholesale destruction of their homes and livelihoods is not consistent with that responsibility and humanitarian ideals. The current policy and practice of demolitions cause extensive human suffering and should end. Palestinians urgently require ready access to a fair and nondiscriminatory planning and zoning system that meets their needs for growth and development” said Gaylard.

Following his visit to Beit Arabiya, Gaylard also commended the work undertaken by human rights organizations to support Palestinian families in distress and expressed serious concern about the repeated destruction of facilities supported by them.

According to Halper “ICAHD is determined to rebuild Beit Arabiya as well as ensure the housing needs of the Abu Omar family and the Abu Musa Bedouin clan. The attack on the families and on their cooperation with ICAHD was a major one: seven homes and animal pens crucial for the livelihood of the Bedouins demolished, all with a blunt message: We, the Israeli Forces, will move decisively and with unmitigated violence against any hint of joint resistance to Occupation on the part of Palestinians and Israelis. At this hour, we need solidarity and material support. ICAHD rebuilds homes, together with Palestinians, as political acts of resistance. Our important work, however, can only be done with the help of people of conscience the world over. Donations, which are dedicated completely to rebuilding, can be sent through our secure on-line Paypal account via the button below. Please support our work with the Palestinian people.”

For more details on the campaign: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – www.icahd.org