- 12 dec 2010
'Israel dumps chem. waste in W Bank'
Toxic waste produced by Israeli factories in Tulkarm (photo)
Israeli factories are quietly dumping hazardous industrial waste from polluting industries in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, the city's governor says.
The Israeli move came to light in November when Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces seized a truckload of chemical waste, originating from Israeli factories, to be emptied in the grounds of Khaduri University, Talal Dweikat said.
PA officials said that a Palestinian man was hired for the job, Ma'an news agency reported on Sunday.
The waste was examined in PA laboratories and was found to be dangerous.
PA forces were put on high alert to check every Israeli truck, arriving in Tulkarm, for hazardous material.
Meanwhile, University President Daoud Az-Za'tery said the university is holding awareness courses to educate students on the hazardous materials.
He noted that many complaints have been received from Tulkarm residents concerning the chemical waste being dumped in the area by Israeli factories.
Some occupied West Bank towns have become "dustbins" for Israeli industrial wastes -- including toxic wastes -- raising cancer rates up to 10 times, according to local Palestinian doctors.
Another report says there are at least seven Israeli industrial zones in the occupied West Bank and an estimated 200 such factories are located there.
Many of the factories are built mainly on hilltops, which often results in the flow of industrial wastewater into adjacent Palestinian lands damaging the citrus trees, polluting the soil as well as polluting the underground water.
For example, a pesticide factory in Kfar Saba which produces dangerous pollutants has been moved to an area near Tulkarm.
The Dixon Gas industrial factory, which was located in Netanya has also been moved to the Tulkarm area. The solid waste generated by the factory is burned in open air.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/155218.html
8 feb 2011, 16:51 , Respect -
Maria 13 dec 2010
Israeli authorities demolish Palestinian homes in Lod
LOD, (PIC)-- Israeli municipality teams escorted by large numbers of policemen and border police razed seven Palestinian homes in Lod in central Palestine occupied in 1948 on Monday at the pretext of building without permit.
Local sources said that police forces evicted inhabitants of those houses at gunpoint, adding that the citizens' property was hauled in big containers, which were transferred to an unknown location.
They said that the policemen threw women, children, and elderly people out of their homes despite the stormy weather conditions and extreme cold.
Policemen threatened anyone approaching the scene of the demolition of the Eid family buildings with immediate detention, the sources said, noting that the Eid family had repeatedly tried to counter the demolitions through a court order but to no avail.
Leaders of a local popular committee met with the inhabitants and decided to pitch temporary tents for them, and agreed on rebuilding them soon.
For their part, Hamas MPs in the West Bank denounced the repeated Israeli destruction of 1948 Palestinian homes and racist edicts against them.
They said in a statement on Monday that such practices reflect Israel's "racism and savagery".
The lawmakers urged the world community to end its silence and bridle the Israeli government and Jewish settlers, warning that continuation of such aggressions would fuel the struggle in the region.
http://bit.ly/gDm5ix
10 feb 2011, 13:57 , Respect -
Maria 14 dec 2010
IOA razes Jerusalemite home, endorses construction of 24 Jewish housing units
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority bulldozed a Palestinian home in Ras Al-Amoud suburb in occupied Jerusalem, near Silwn town, on Tuesday at the usual pretext of lack of permit.
Local sources said that a big number of security forces escorted the municipal teams in their work, noting that they encircled the area and blocked in and out traffic before the demolition started.
Members of the Jerusalemite family clashed with the security forces, who savagely battered them.
Leveling Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem is a stable policy pursued by the IOA to empty the holy city of its indigenous people and settle Jews in their place.
In a related incident, the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem's local committee for planning and construction granted permits for the construction of 24 new housing units for Jews in the vicinity of Beit Orot near the Mount of Olives in occupied Jerusalem.
The Hebrew newspaper "Israel Today" reported that four three-storey buildings would be built on private property and would be financed by the Jewish American billionaire Irvin Muscovic, who finances Jewish settlement in the holy city.
The construction is to start immediately after the permit was granted, the paper said, adding that 24 Jewish families would settle there.
http://bit.ly/eEdqci
Bedouin community wells demolished by Israeli forces
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Five wells and several sheds were destroyed by Israeli Civil Administration officials on Tuesday, in a small Bedouin encampment in the south Hebron hills, locals said.
The area, known as Arab Al-Ka'abna, sits between the villages of At-Tuwani and Umm Lasafa, in "Area C," a zone under total Israeli military and civil control.
Area representative Eid Hathalin told Ma'an that five wells were filled in and by noon demolitions of sheds in the area was ongoing. All of the demolitions were carried out, Hathalin said, because the farmers did not have permits to build the wells.
Bedouins living in the area survive by raising livestock, Hathalin explained, adding that with no access to water, the farmers would be forced to take their flocks and produce elsewhere, "making our lands an easy target for settlers," he said.
Herders whose wells were blocked were identified as Sulaiman Salim Al-Faqir, Ramadan Suleiman Ka'abna who had two wells blocked, and one well looked after by Khalil Muhammad Al-Faqir.
Not connected to any other water supply, Hathalin said the wells sustained not only the livestock but also the inhabitants of the area.
Representatives from Israel's Civil Administration could not be reached by phone for comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=342014
Israeli forces demolish 2 homes under construction in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, both under construction, were demolished by Israeli forces on Tuesday morning, as bulldozers executed demolition orders stating the homes lacked permits.
The homes, in the Ras Al-Amud and Sur Bahir neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem, were two of an estimated 60,000 with standing demolition orders authorized by the Israeli courts on request from the municipality.
In Ras Al-Amud, a building planned to house eight, with only 85 square meters completed, was demolished, owner Eid Bahjat Dweik told Ma'an. He said that even though he had received a demolition order in October - 10 months after construction began - he decided to continue building and take his chances.
Observers from international, Israeli and UN groups have noted the near impossibility of obtaining a building license in Israeli-controlled areas of East Jerusalem, leading tens of thousands to build without a permit, in the hopes that local lobbying efforts for a mass retroactive licensing project or a return of East Jerusalem to Palestinian control would render the buildings legal.
In Sur Baher, bulldozers took down the partially completed home of Samer Amira Jibril. More than 200 square meters of the building had been completed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341953
16 feb 2011, 07:37 , Respect -
Maria 15 dec 2010
'Lod home demolitions a crime against humanity'
LOD, Israel (Ma'an) -- Following the demolition of the home of a Bedouin family in Israel's mixed town of Lod in the country's south, Talab As-Sane of the Arab Democratic Party visited the family in a show of solidarity.
The Abu Eid home was torn down on Monday along with the homes of six other families, all on one block of the town, during the season's worst dust storm, which kicked off a cold spell that saw snow fall in the northern parts of the region.
Israel's Land Authority said the seven homes were built illegally.
The demolitions in Lod mirror events that occur regularly in the West Bank, prompting As-Sane's visit to a tent set up by the families, which the official described as "miserable."
"What the Netanyahu government did in Lod is a crime against humanity," he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341993
- 1 dec 2010
Citizens clashed with police after demolishing home in OJ
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Citizens in Issawiya in central occupied Jerusalem clashed with Israeli occupation police and municipal teams after they razed a house and a printing press for the usual pretext of lack of permit on Tuesday.
Local sources said that big number of policemen and border police stormed the town and encircled a number of houses and were confronted by the inhabitants, adding that the policemen fired bullets and gas bombs at the protesters.
They said that razing the house of Attiya Emtair was made without prior notice, adding that the printing press, owned by Mohammed Rubin, was knocked down for not obtaining permit.
The Makdesi institution for social development in occupied Jerusalem published a report on Tuesday saying that the Israeli occupation authority had destroyed 1485 houses in the holy city since its occupation in 1967 and issued 1300 demolition orders during the past two years.
http://bit.ly/fCPhU9
Israelis unleash dogs on Palestinians
Israeli forces have unleashed their dogs on the Palestinians decrying the oppressive policies Tel Aviv implements on the occupied Palestinian territories.
The forces used the "savage" animals, sound bombs and tear gas to suppress the protest which erupted before the Israeli troops razed two residences in the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya to the ground, the Palestine News Network (PNN) reported Tuesday.
One of the protesters sustained injury from a dog attack and four other Palestinians were tear-gassed by Israeli forces, AFP reported.
Israeli military also flattened one building elsewhere in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), PNN said, adding that home owners destroyed one residence in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to avoid the demolition fee imposed by Israeli authorities.
Israel claimed its existence in 1948 during full-scale military operations against the Arab world, forcing 711,000 Palestinians to leave their homeland.
In 1967, Tel Aviv went on to occupy and later annex the West Bank and East al-Quds, the promised capital of the future Palestinian state, in defiance of the international community's refusal to recognize the annexation. Estimates in 2008 put the number of the refugees at over 4.6 million.
The network cited an al-Quds-based think tank as saying that 3,655 Palestinians, including 807 women and 1699 children, would be forced out of East al-Quds in the next year as a result of the demolitions.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/153379.html
JCSER: Israeli Police Used Dogs In Attacking Homeowners In Jerusalem
The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights in Jerusalem (JCSER) reported that Israeli policemen used dogs during their Tuesday attack against Palestinian homeowners as the police attacked their homes before demolishing them earlier in the day in Al Esawiyya, in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Research and Documentation Unit of the JCSER reported that resident Mohammad Robin, an owner of a print house that was demolished Tuesday was attacked by dogs unleashed by the police while he was trying to get his father and equipment from the print house.
The dogs attacked and bit the two while the police used pepper spray against them before beating the wife of Mohammad. The police also fired gas bombs during the attack.
The center said that the police used excessive force against the residents who protested the attack. Policemen also broke into a number of homes.
The Jerusalem municipality also demolished two rooms built using wood and bricks, and also demolished a home in Sheikh Jarrah after violently breaking into it and forcing the resident out.
The police also fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at residents protesting in the area
The center slammed the excessive use of force against the residents who became homeless due to an illegal policy.
Also on Tuesday, the police demolished a home that belongs to the family of Nour Sub Laban, in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.
The family was not at home when the police broke into it and demolished it without waiting for the owners to return and evacuate their furniture and belongings.
The Jerusalem Municipality claimed that its workers recently placed the demolish order on the main door of the home.
Furthermore, a warehouse was demolished in Shu'fat town, north of Jerusalem, and the police handed an order against a five-story home in Ras Khamis, in occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60060
17 jan 2011, 12:36 , Respect -
Maria 2 dec 2010
Palestinian property destroyed as Israeli settlements grow
In the Khirbet Yerza village in the Jordan Valley, members of the Anabousy family stand in front of their home one day after it was destroyed by Israeli forces, 25 November. (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)
Israeli bulldozers and armed soldiers implemented a swath of demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures for more than a week in multiple areas across the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.
On 24 November, two bulldozers and approximately 200 soldiers swarmed the farming village of Abu al-Ajaj in the Jordan Valley, destroying livestock pens and sheds. Ma'an News Agency reported that the demolition came two weeks after the state confiscated village land in preparation for the expansion of a nearby illegal Israeli settlement colony ("More Bedouin structures demolished in Jordan Valley," 24 November 2010). http://bit.ly/hkbIz8
The Jordan Valley Solidarity (JVS) group, a network of Palestinian grassroots community organizations from all over the Jordan Valley, stated that several baby goats were killed and Israeli settlers accompanied the soldiers as the bulldozers razed the land. "Both [the soldiers and the settlers] laughed and cheered as the destruction took place," the group reported in a news release ("The occupation forces demolished 4 barracks in the Jordan Valley," 24 November 2010). http://bit.ly/ezB1g8
JVS added that an Israeli court declared a settlement expansion freeze for the nearby settlement of Massua, but the destruction happened nevertheless, and the settlers are intent on building despite the freeze. "Five years ago the settlement started to expand onto a small piece of land that belongs to the Bedouin community," JVS reported. "Since then, settlers haven't stopped grabbing land from the Palestinian shepherds."
Most of the Jordan Valley is located in Area C, an area which comprises 60 percent of the West Bank. Under the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the mid-1990s, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip were carved up into areas A, B and C, the latter of which indicates full Israeli control. Under the Oslo regulations, Area C, which includes East Jerusalem, is administered and controlled by the Israeli government and its military. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians live in Area C.
Also on 24 November, dozens of villagers in Bani Hassan attempted to fight back against Israeli troops as bulldozers razed the village, which is near the Palestinian town of Salfit and the illegal Ariel settlement bloc. Agricultural land and land reclamation equipment was demolished, according to a report published by Ma'an ("Israel bulldozes PA-backed projects," 24 November 2010). http://bit.ly/euOs5Q
At the same time, near Bani Hassan in the Wadi Qana area, Ma'an reported that crews from the Israeli Civil Administration and the Society for Protecting Nature in Israel "arrived with bulldozers which demolished the Wadi Qana rehabilitation project, [costing] the Palestinian finance ministry $120,000 US." A water canal was destroyed, as were parts of a reservoir and agricultural irrigation systems.
On the same day, in East Jerusalem, dozens of Israeli police flanked a bulldozer in the at-Tur neighborhood near the Mount of Olives as it destroyed the home of Abed Zablah. A father of five, Zablah had obtained a court order to halt the demolition of his home earlier in the day, according to a report by Agence France Presse. But by the time he had returned home from the court, Israeli forces had already leveled his house ("Israel razes Palestinian home in E. Jerusalem," 24 November, 2010). http://yhoo.it/hjdpQR
Al-Araqib destroyed for seventh time
Days earlier, Israeli forces once again demolished the Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab (Negev) desert on 22 November, the seventh time since July 2010. In a press release, human rights group Amnesty International stated that "at least 50 of the 250 residents of al-Araqib village are again living in the ruins of their homes, attempting to rebuild them. Others are camping in tents in the village cemetery ("Israel condemned over Bedouin village demolition," 25 November 2010). http://bit.ly/eE6o6K
Amnesty International added, "[a]s in previous demolitions, no eviction or demolition order was presented to the inhabitants. Israeli authorities have previously detained residents and their supporters when they demanded to see a demolition order ... Israeli media reported in early 2010 that the government had decided to triple the demolition rate of Bedouin constructions in the Negev. As the government does not recognize the villagers' land tenure, it maintains that their settlements are illegal."
The village of al-Araqib was razed to the ground on 27 July 2010 http://bit.ly/gXKwOW , when approximately 1,000 Israeli riot police raided the area as dozens of homes were destroyed. Villagers who returned to their land constructed shelters after the July demolition, but those were destroyed again on
4 August, http://bit.ly/gmUGFN
10 August, http://bit.ly/es9Bae
17 August, http://bit.ly/fSgsRq
13 September, http://bit.ly/dIWBlP
13 October, and last week.
Amnesty International admonished the Israeli government in its press statement. Philip Luther, Amnesty's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "We condemn these repeated demolitions that aim to forcibly evict the residents of al-Araqib from the land they have on lived for generations ... The fact that the village has been demolished seven times in four months shows that this is not some administrative mistake but a conscious Israeli government policy of dispossession."
East Jerusalem
Meanwhile, in East Jerusalem on 22 November, bulldozers destroyed buildings in al-Isawiyye and Hizma. According to the same report by Amnesty International, livestock pens and small homes used by farmers were demolished.
The next morning in the Jabal Mukkaber neighborhood, also in Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from their home, following a court ruling that declared the home to be owned by Jewish settlers.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) stated that immediately after evicting the Qarain family, Israeli police handed the building over to settlers affiliated with the Elad settlement financing organization.
"The settler group is currently undertaking work on the premises to fortify the building," stated ICAHD in its report ("Palestinian family forcibly evicted in Jabal Mukkaber," 24 November 2010). http://bit.ly/h9yFfq
"Elad's activities focus on moving extremist national-religious settlers into the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in areas encircling the Old City, and particularly those neighborhoods which form the last contiguous Palestinian fabric of Jerusalem, connecting the West Bank with the Old City. This area has been eyed as a future Palestinian capital since peace negotiations in the mid-'90s, and includes the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras al-Amud and Jabal Mukkaber."
ICAHD stated that the grounds for eviction of the Qarain family "remain unclear."
"Regardless of the Israeli court order, any transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied East Jerusalem remains a clear breach of international law which absolutely prohibits the transfer of civilians into occupied territory, regardless of the method used to gain the property," the ICAHD report added.
A week later, on 30 November, Israeli forces demolished yet another home in al-Isawiyye. Jerusalem municipal bulldozers, escorted by border guards and police, destroyed a home and a printing shop, according to Ma'an News Agency. Protesters were attacked by police, who shot tear gas ("Bulldozers demolish home, workshop in Jerusalem," 30 November 2010). http://bit.ly/f3nmNP
Southern West Bank and northern Jordan Valley
On 25 November, the wave of demolitions continued in the southern West Bank and the northern Jordan Valley area. The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) released a report stating that Israeli forces raided the village of al-Rifayaia, east of Yatta in the south Hebron hills, where they demolished a 250-meter house. PSCC said the house was home to two families of twenty persons, 16 of them minors ("Israeli forces demolish mosque as West Bank demolitions wave continues for the second day in a row," 25 November 2010). http://bit.ly/hz9Ewl
PSCC reported that hours before the al-Rifayaia demolitions, Israeli bulldozers destroyed four homes, three animal shelters and a recently-renovated mosque in Khirbet Yerza, home to more than 120 individuals. The Jordan Valley Solidarity group added that the area is "highly militarized with three military camps including Samrah, Almaleh and Kopra camp. In the past, the community has faced constant military harassment. As a result, most of the homes in the area had received demolition orders ("New demolitions in the Jordan Valley," 25 November 2010). http://bit.ly/ekBp6R
And on 29 November, Israeli forces handed out demolition orders to a mosque and the owners of two homes in the al-Masara village near Bethlehem. Ma'an News Agency reported that six military jeeps raided the village and took photographs of the mosque and the homes ("Israel hands demolition orders to village mosque, homes," 29 November 2010). http://bit.ly/eDd5N6
While Israel continued its policies of frequent demolition of Palestinian property, a settlement colony in East Jerusalem announced new construction of Jewish-only housing units.
According to a report by the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, Israel approved a plan to expand the settlement of Gilo, near Bethlehem, which will add 130 housing units on land in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa ("130 new housing units approved in East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo," 30 November 2010). http://bit.ly/ghuZ8f
In an address to the United Nations marking the 33rd annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared on 29 November that Israel's resumption of settlement expansion was a "serious blow to the credibility of the political process," and that the state was obligated to cease settlement activity under international law ("Secretary-General's message on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People," 29 November 2010). http://bit.ly/fRVAG3
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11655.shtml
U.N. reports sharp increase in demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
Last week we published a friend's paraphrase of a United Nations report on a wave of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian houses that happened without a peep from the U.S. government. Well yesterday our friend passed along another gloss of a U.N. report:
Wednesday Israeli forces demolished several Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem. All of the demolitions were carried out by the Jerusalem Municipality. They included:
--Al Issawiye, a small building housing a printing business (200 Square Feet) and a larger building under construction, but near completion, that was to be a home for a Palestinian family of 8 people, including 5 children under 18. Both structures had received demolition orders and in both cases those affected were fighting the orders legally.
--In Sheikh Jarrah , the Municipality demolished the top floor, a residential unit of about 400 square feet, of a building on 'Shimon Hatzadik' street, leaving homeless a family of 5.
--The U.N. has also received several reports of a demolition of a small residential structure in Ras Khamees in Shufat Refugee Camp, unconfirmed.
The recent demolitions represent a sharp increase in demolitions, particularly in East Jerusalem. We expected the demolitions to increase after Eid, but these developments remain extremely concerning.
http://bit.ly/eGWp6A
18 jan 2011, 12:16 , Respect -
Maria 3 dec 2010
Clashes between protestors and occupation police in Eisaweyya
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Clashes broke out, Friday evening, in the Eisaweyya suburb of occupied Jerusalem after a protest march in which local residents and foreign sympathisers participated.
Local sources said that violent confrontations took place on the western entrance to the suburb after a march protesting the closure of the village's entrances and the home demolitions that took place recently.
The sources added that IOF troops fired rubber coated bullets and teargas canisters at the protestors. No casualties were reported at the time.
http://bit.ly/dWsUQ8
20 jan 2011, 18:32 , Respect -
Maria 7 dec 2010
Statistics: Israel razed about 1, 000 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem in 10 years
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Statistics published by the land research center of the Arab studies society stated that Israel have demolished 995 Palestinian homes and displaced 5,783 individuals, including 3,109 children in occupied Jerusalem since the start of 2000.
These data was published in a book issued on Monday by the center under the title "Jerusalem under occupation."
According to the book, the Israeli demolition of structures in the "western" part of Jerusalem is confined to walls, garages and cottages.
Since Israel occupied the "eastern" part of Jerusalem in 1967 and until 1984, it has not issued construction permits to any Palestinians, but afterwards it issued only 33 permits in 2008 and 2009, researcher Waleed Habbas said in the book.
The researcher pointed out that 34 settlements have been constructed since 1967, and there is only 12 percent of the land in east Jerusalem for Palestinians, while 38 percent for the Israeli settlements and 50 percent is green areas reserved for the building and expansion of settlements.
He also gave brief information about the history of demolition, saying that 16 out of 19. 5 square kilometers were occupied at the end of the British occupation in 1948, while 39 Palestinian villages were erased and 98, 000 Jerusalemites were displaced.
In 1967, Israel destroyed three Palestinian villages in addition to Ash-Sharaf neighborhood in the old city of Jerusalem and annexed 71 square kilometers to what is known now as the boundary of the Israeli municipality.
In another context, the secretariat of the Arab League called on everyone invited to the ceremony which the Israeli government intends to hold in east Jerusalem on the occasion of the Christmas to boycott this event that represents a clear violation of international law.
The Arab League warned that attending this event would encourage the Israeli occupation to persist in its violations of international law that considers east Jerusalem an occupied territory, saying this Israeli step poses a threat to the peace and stability in the region.
The Arab League also hailed in its statement the governments of Brazil and Argentina for recognizing the Palestinian state within the borders of June 1967.
http://bit.ly/epZfKa
27 jan 2011, 01:51 , Respect -
Maria 8 dec 2010
Israeli forces demolish school near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished a number Palestinian buildings near the West Bank city of Nablus Wednesday, including a Palestinian Authority school, officials said.
Ghassan Doughlas, the official in charge of monitoring settlements in the northern West Bank, said Israeli military vehicles raided Tana area, seven kilometers from the village of Beit Furik and declared it a closed military zone before demolishing buildings, including an under-construction three classroom school.
He added that forces demolished 12 barns and removed tents donated by the International Red Crescent, where some residents lived.
Beit Furik Mayor Atef Haneeny, said Palestinians were banned from the area, and that the Israeli military informed residents that the demolitions were part of an Israeli court ruling.
The Israeli news site Ynet reported that Israeli army and Civil Administration forces demolished eight buildings, including a school, in the area, which is designated as an army training ground.
According to the report, demolition orders were issued against all the buildings in the past. The forces plan to raze additional homes in the area.
Meanwhile local officials said Israeli authorities issued three house demolition orders in the village of Nahalin, West of Bethlehem Tuesday.
Osama Shakarneh, vice president of the local village council, said three Israeli military patrols entered the village and handed the notification on the allegation that the houses have no license.
The owners were identified as Jamil Muhammad Amin, Murad Lutfi Ibrahim Musallam, and Wasfy Muhammad Theeb.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=339909
OCHA: Israel razed 12 homes in O. Jerusalem during one week
GAZA, (PIC)-- The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said that Israel demolished 12 Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem from 24 to 30 November at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
OCHA added in a report issued on Tuesday that since the beginning of this year, Israel has destroyed 54 Palestinian homes in the holy city and 291 others in the West Bank.
For its part, the information center of the Palestinian ministry of planning in Gaza said in its monthly report that three Palestinians were killed and 35 others were wounded by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in last month.
The information center noted that the three victims were killed during an Israeli aerial attack on Gaza.
It added that the IOF troops carried out nine limited incursions into Gaza and 84 others in the West Bank in the reported month, during these operations they kidnapped 288 Palestinians, 100 of them from Al-Khalil city.
http://bit.ly/g2xk3P
Israeli army bulldozes West Bank village
Palestinians watch an Israeli excavator destroying a Palestinian house in a village in the West Bank. (file photo)
Israeli military bulldozers have leveled a school and forced dozens of families living in tents near the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) to evacuate.
The Israeli bulldozers entered the village of Tana early on Wednesday, razing the structures. A Red Cross facility was also severely damaged in the demolition activity, witnesses told Press TV.
The Red Cross building reportedly provided service to the impoverished residents of the village.
The Palestinian Authority refused to condemn the demolitions. Israeli authorities said the structures had been built without the required permits.
Palestinians argue that their efforts to construct a free and independent Palestinian state will prove fruitless as long as Tel Aviv continues its destruction plans.
Figures from the Israeli non-governmental organization, Bimkom, reveal that nearly 95 percent of applications lodged by Palestinians for building permits are denied.
The Israeli non-profit organization also noted that Israel's Civil Administration only grants some 12 permits a year.
Israel has demolished 995 Palestinian homes and displaced 5,783 persons, including 3,109 children, in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) since the start of 2000, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/154484.html
3 Bethlehem homes threatened with demolition
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces handed three stop-work orders to residents of Bethlehem on Tuesday, local officials said.
Usama Shakarneh, deputy mayor of Nahalin village, said authorities handed notifications claiming three homes lacked licenses.
The mayor said the homes belonged to three local families.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=339868
Soldiers Demolish School, Hothouses, Near Nablus
For the second time this year, Israeli soldiers demolished on Wednesday morning hothouses, removed tents and demolished a three-room under construction school in Tana area, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Ghassan Douglas, in charge of settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, stated that a number of Israeli military vehicles invaded the area, located 7 kilometers away from Beit Forik near Nablus, and demolished the structures after declaring the area as a closed military zone.
Douglas added that the soldiers demolished 12 hothouses and removed a tent that was donated by the International Red Cross, and also demolished a school constructed by the Palestinian National Authority.
This is the second attack of its nature in the last 14 months, he said.
Atif Hanani, head of the Beit Forik City Council, stated that soldiers informed the residents that they are implementing orders issued by the Israeli High court.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60114
28 jan 2011, 21:06 , Respect -
Maria 9 dec 2010
Israel to demolish electric infrastructure near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities delivered demolition orders Thursday for electric transformers and powerlines in a Palestinian community south of Hebron, a local official said.
Local Popular Committee chairman Azmi Ash-Sheiyukhi said Israeli officials handed the orders to Muhammad Al-Adrah, the head of the village council of Rifaya and Ad-Deirat.
The orders call for the demolition and removal of a transformer and power lines that provide electricity to 800 people in the two remote villages near Yatta.
He said Israeli officials had previously authorized the construction of electric infrastructure to provide power to 400 Rifaya residents, while residents of Ad-Deirat had paid out of pocket for the construction of the transformer.
He also said residents planned to mount a legal challenge to the demolition orders, which he called "illegitimate and illegal."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340600