The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the Israeli occupation authorities have demolished more than 506 Palestinian buildings in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, under the pretext of unauthorized construction.
The OCHA office stated, in a statement, today, Monday, that among the 506 demolished buildings, 134 buildings were demolished in occupied Jerusalem. The statement pointed out that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 22 buildings owned by Palestinians during the past two weeks, under the pretext of the lack of building permits issued by the Israeli authorities, which led to the displacement of 50 Palestinians and damage to about 200 others. He mentioned that the other ten buildings are located in Area C, which is about 60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control. The occupation authorities claim that the demolition orders come due to the lack of building permits, but Palestinian obtaining these permits is almost impossible due to the restrictive and discriminatory planning system, which leaves residents with no choice but to build without a permit.
