The Israeli army has prevented the delivery of aid to Palestinians whose homes have been demolished and has asked a UN relief team to leave the Jordan Valley site, United Nations humanitarian workers said Thursday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that the demolition of 27 residential and animal buildings and water tanks on Wednesday in the Palestinian pastoral area of ​​Hamsa al-Baqi´ is the first of its kind since February. The Israeli Civil Administration and the army also took food, milk for children, clothes, hygiene items, and toys.
The office stated that the operation included 11 homes in which about 70 people lived, including 36 children. The animals did not have feed and water.
Representatives of OCHA and humanitarian partners visited the local community on Wednesday evening, but on Thursday the army asked them to leave.
The office said the local community rejected a proposal by the Israeli Civil Administration of Medicine to move it to a different location. The army moved their belongings to the proposed location.
Humanitarian workers said 11 buildings were donated as humanitarian aid in February after similar demolitions were destroyed or taken over by the military on Wednesday.
And OCHA stated that “the repeated destruction of their homes and property, including the aid provided by the humanitarian community, has a devastating economic, social and traumatic impact on society, especially children.”
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the latter is deeply concerned about property demolitions in the local pastoral community.
Dujarric indicated in a regular press briefing that Guterres “reiterates his call to the Israeli authorities to stop the demolitions and seizure of Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank,” adding that “such actions are contrary to international law and could undermine the chances of establishing a viable and contiguous Palestinian state.”
The OCHA office stated that this year, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished, detained or forced people to destroy at least 421 Palestinian-owned structures, including 130 funded by donors, displacing 592 people, including about 320 children across the country. West Bank. Demolitions represent a 24 percent increase in buildings, a nearly 110 percent increase in donor-funded facilities, and a 50 percent increase in displacement of people, compared to the corresponding period in 2020.
