The Israeli occupation demolished 6,116 Palestinian structures in the West Bank between 2010 and 2019, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) data, displacing 9,249 Palestinians including around 4,500 children, Palestine Post 24 reported.
The vast majority of the destruction, 79 per cent, has taken place in Area C of the occupied West Bank, over which the Israeli army has full control.
In a minority of cases, demolitions were carried out by the owners of the structures, who had received a demolition order and wanted to avoid the high fees incurred when the Israeli occupation carry out the destruction themselves.
Punitive measures like home demolition is a means for Israel to displace Palestinians from their own land, ostensibly for lack of a permit. Forced displacement, under international law, is a crime against humanity, in the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Image: AIC
Edited for IMEMC: Ali Salam
