Israeli security forces watch as a bulldozer demolishes a Palestinian house near the village of Beit Awa, west of the occupied West Bank town of Hebron. (Photo by AFP)
Ramallah, January 3 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have seized vast swathes of land and demolished a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, displacing its occupants. The Palestinian Information Center, citing local sources reported that the Israeli troops bulldozed and demolished a house of a farmer in Biddya town, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank on Sunday morning.
Local Palestinian officials said the demolitions led to displacement of several Palestinians. The municipality’s order to raze the building was issued under the pretext of lacking the necessary construction license, which is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
Israeli authorities usually demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, claiming that the structures have been built without permits. They also sometimes order the Palestinian owners to demolish their own homes or pay the demolition costs to the municipality if they do not.
In different areas of Bethlehem and other parts of the occupied territories, the Israeli authorities also confiscated a vast tract of private Palestinian land as the Tel Aviv regime presses ahead with expansionism land expropriation policies in violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he would start plans for annexing more areas in the occupied West Bank, in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s "deal of the century" scheme, further infuriating Palestinians.
Trump officially unveiled his scheme last January at the White House with Netanyahu on his side, while Palestinian representatives were not invited. The proposal gives in to Israel’s demands while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allowing the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
Trump's highly provocative scheme, which further denies the right of return to Palestinian refugees, is also in complete disregard of UN Security Council resolutions and rejected by the vast majority of the international community.
Israel’s unlawful annexation push has drawn widespread criticism from the entire international community, including the regime’s closest allies.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
