Israeli forces demolished on Tuesday, April 12, three Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank village of al-Walaja and a children’s park near Nablus amid a grave escalation in demolitions across the occupied territories this year.
Al-Walaja (Photo: UNWRA)
A Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers razed a children’s park in the village of Zaatara, south of Nablus. The Israeli authorities gave no prior notice before demolishing the park, which was built last year with around $60,000 donated by Belgium via the Municipal Developing and Lending Fund, Daghlas said.
Residents told Ma’an that bulldozers escorted by Israeli military forces also raided the Ein al-Jweizeh area in northern al-Walaja near Bethlehem, demolishing three homes that were still under construction. The homeowners, al-Walaja residents Maher Abu Khyara, Issa Qintar and Obeida al-Muhatseb, were reportedly told that the demolitions were carried out due to lack of proper building permits.
Tuesday’s demolitions mark the most recent ones to have taken places amid an intensified demolition campaign this year against Palestinian homes and structures across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Over 800 Palestinians have now been displaced since the start of 2016 due to the demolition by the Israeli authorities of more than 500 structures in the occupied West Bank, according to UN figures. The majority have been carried out in Area C — under full jurisdiction of the Israeli military — where nearly 100 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits are denied by the Israeli authorities.
Last week an estimated 124 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in a single day from nine different communities, including the village of Khirbet Tana which has been destroyed four times since the start of the year.
Israel’s separation wall encircles al-Walaja, and swathes of land have been expropriated by the Israeli government for the construction and expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements of Gilo, Har Gilo, and Givat Yael. The government also plans to confiscate hundreds of acres from al-Walaja for the establishment of a national park. The record-high number demolitions this year comes as the Palestinian Authority is expected to present a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements to the UN Security Council in New York in two weeks. Despite repeated condemnations by the international community, Israel has come under little actual pressure to halt its settlement program, land seizures, or the forced displacement of Palestinian communities.
