Two homes have been demolished by the Israeli Army in a village near Nablus, reports the Alternative Information Centre.The homes of two families, together with a number of animal shelters, were demolished in Khirbet Tana – the fourth demolition that the village has experienced since 2005. In the previous demolition (December 2010), the village school was destroyed along with 10 homes.
Israeli authorities state that the community is located in a ‘closed military zone’, which justifies demolitions. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 18% of the West Bank is a ‘closed military zone’, in spite of the fact that a number of villages already existed within the area before being declared off-limits.
The UNOCHA has raised concerns about forced population transfer due to the fact that 99% of Area C – the Israeli controlled portion of the West Bank – is off-limits or has severe development restrictions for Palestinians. The situation is exacerbated by population growth.
