Israel Demolishes Palestinian Property near Bethlehem

Israeli forces yesterday demolished a house and a garage near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, under the pretext that it was built without the nearly impossible to obtain building permits.

Local sources said that Israeli army forces accompanied by a bulldozer and military vehicles stormed the village of Al-Walaja, north-west of Bethlehem, and demolished a one-story home, owned by Abdel-Qader Abu Hammad, and a garage, owned by another Palestinian named Saleh Khalifa.

Israel is completely unmoved by international criticism over its illegal house demolition policy. With the full support of the US, Israel can act with impunity thereby crushing any chance of Palestinian statehood. https://t.co/0dQ0e0OzOI

— Suzy S (@PalestinePR) August 12, 2019

The village of Al-Walaja has been subjected to repeated harassment by Israeli authorities, including arrests and demolitions of homes, destruction of retaining walls and roads to displace its residents.

According to the human rights group B’tselem, “over the years, Israel has demolished hundreds of houses as part of this policy, leaving thousands of Palestinians homeless”.

This policy was widely condemned by human rights groups as “a collective punishment”, which is prohibited and violates binding provisions of international law.

(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)

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