Israel intensifies home demolition policy: Palestine

By Mohammad Ghefari

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Israel is intensifying its demolition and expropriation practices against Palestinians without a "legal deterrence or punishment" from the international community.

It said Israel is launching "a fierce campaign to hit and execute the Palestinian presence in the areas classified as ‘C’ areas, in what it looks like a real war of annihilation" on Palestinian presence on the land.

Demolitions are taken place in areas classified as C areas which comprise 60% of the occupied West Bank where Israel prohibits Palestinians from building or rehabilitating without a prior permit from Israeli authorities.

Palestinians, however, say that permits are rarely obtained.

Israel prevents Palestinians from conduction construction projects in parts of the West Bank designated as Area C, which falls under Israel’s administrative and security control.

Area C is currently home to 300,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Bedouins and herding communities who predominantly live in tents, caravans and caves.

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions -- Areas A, B and C.

The Foreign Ministry statement characterized demolition policies as "ethnic cleansing" that targets every aspect of Palestinian life intending to empty areas for Israeli settlement projects.

Almost on daily basis, Israel conducts demolitions of Palestinian homes in C areas.

Two homes under construction were demolished Thursday in a Palestinian Bedouin community in the West Bank.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara