Israeli workers dismantle tents during a demolition operation of a Palestinian encampment in the north of the occupied West Bank. (Photo: AFP)
Ramallah, March 2 (RHC)-- Israeli bulldozers have demolished the house of a Palestinian in northeastern Jerusalem al-Quds, displacing the residents. The house in the town of al-Issawiya was torn down at dawn on Monday, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Troops were also deployed on the roofs of houses in the vicinity to prevent citizens from approaching the area. It was the fifth time Israeli authorities demolished a house belonging to the Palestinian owner Hatem Abu Rayala, who suffers from paraplegia. He was injured in 2009 when he fell while Israeli bulldozers were demolishing his home for the third time.
The residential structures have been built ‘without the relevant building permits.’ That is the excuse Israeli authorities use to demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds.
Last week, the United Nations called on the regime to immediately halt its razing of Palestinian homes. UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynn Hastings said in a statement the demolition of Palestinian homes and evacuation of local residents and confiscation of their land contravened international law.
There has been a jump in Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in the wake of the signing of normalization agreements between the regime and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
The rise is coupled with an increase in deportation of Palestinians from Jerusalem al-Quds, their expulsion from al-Aqsa Mosque and daily storming of the compound by extremist settlers. Separately, Palestinian media said a 15-year-old boy, identified as Majd Baida, was detained in the village of Jayyus, close to the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank on Sunday evening. The teenager was abducted during clashes between local Palestinians and Israeli troops near a separation wall.
Sources said the regime forces chased the young boy, ‘beat him up,’ ‘stripped him of some of his clothes’ and ‘took him away to an undisclosed location.’
The Defense for Children International says about 500 to 700 Palestinian children aged between 12 and 17 are arrested and tried in Israeli military courts every year.
