The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lynn Hastings, called today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately stop all demolitions affecting Palestinian homes and properties in the West Bank in the occupied West Bank.
"The Israeli authorities have demolished or confiscated the homes and properties of the families who live there, or confiscated them five times, since the beginning of February," the UN official said in a statement, after visiting the "Hummus Al-Baqi`a" gathering in the northern West Bank. She added, "All tents, supplies, water tanks and livestock fodder were confiscated, despite repeated calls by the international community to stop these measures in accordance with international law." And Hastings warned that "the situations in which the assemblies are pressed to move from carry a real risk of forcible transfer." It indicated that the Israeli measures against the "Hummus al-Baqi`a" community are continuing despite the fact that the residents have exhausted the remedies through local legal procedures. In this regard, she indicated that, according to international law, the Israeli authorities must immediately stop all additional demolitions of Palestinian homes and properties. The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories added that the Israeli authorities "should allow the humanitarian community to provide shelter, food and water to this most vulnerable group, and for these people to stay in their homes." Hamsa al-Buqi’a (al-Fuqa) is one of 38 Bedouin villages that are partially or completely within a field that Israel declared a military firing site.
