The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the Israeli authorities demolished or seized 26 Palestinian structures mostly homes during two weeks in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In its biweekly report on Israeli violations on Friday OCHA explained that the demolition measures were carried out during the period 16 – 29 March 2021 at the pretext that the owners had no Israeli-issued building permits.
The demolitions displaced 34 people including 15 children and affected about 40 people according to its report.
“22 structures were targeted on 17 March in four communities in Area C including eight tents seized in Khirbet Tana (Nablus) displacing 18 people; and 11 uninhabited houses demolished in An-Nuwei’ma Al Fauqa Bedouin community (Jericho) affecting 21 people.
Israel also displaced 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem after four homes were demolished including three by their owners following threats by the Israeli municipality.
During the reporting period Israeli forces carried out 128 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 115 Palestinians including five children across the West Bank.
The Ramallah governorate recorded the highest number of these operations (27) followed by Tulkarem (21) and al-Khalil (18). In one operation in Beit Kahil (al-Khalil) 21 Palestinians were arrested.
63 Palestinians including children were also injured one was killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank including east Jerusalem.
On March 19 a 45-year-old Palestinian man who was throwing stones at Israeli forces during a weekly protest near Beit Dajan village (Nablus) was shot and killed with live ammunition.
10 of those Palestinians were injured in protests near Beit Dajan which have been taking place every Friday for the past six months against the establishment of a new illegal outpost on land belonging to the village.
As for settler crimes the report explained that Jewish settlers injured two Palestinians damaged a few hundreds of Palestinian-owned trees and committed other crimes in the West Bank.
Both Palestinians were physically assaulted one near Susya community (al-Khalil) and the other while working his land near Al Khader (Bethlehem).
Residents in the villages of Jalud Khirbet Sarra and Tell in Nablus and Ras Karkar and Deir Nidham in Ramallah reported that about 300 trees and saplings had been vandalized by settlers.
In Beit Iksa (Jerusalem) and Kafr ad Dik (Salfit) settlers vandalized a house three agricultural structures and three vehicles. In al-Baq’a area (al-Khalil) settlers started bulldozing privately-owned Palestinian land. Settlers also blocked off a spring near Tubas preventing Palestinian herders from accessing it according to the report.
