Ekip
27 July 2016•Update: 27 July 2016
By Anees Bargouthi
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Israel’s policy of demolishing Palestinian homes in and around Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem is aimed at driving Palestinians from their historical land, PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said Wednesday.
"More than 30 Palestinian families in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Issawyia and Ras al-Amoud and in the village of Kalandia [in the occupied West Bank] have been rendered homeless within the last 24 hours following the demolition of their homes by Israeli forces," Erekat told Anadolu Agency by phone.
According to Erekat, the demolitions -- which he said were carried out by heavily-armed Israeli security forces -- were aimed at driving out the area’s longstanding Palestinian inhabitants to make way for the construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements.
Erekat called on the international community to "shoulder its responsibilities" by supporting the Palestinian people and bringing an end to Israel’s decades-long occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
"Israel continues its crimes and violations of international law," he asserted. "We call on the UN to provide protection for the Palestinian people."
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Israeli settlement building on the land to be illegal.
Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaize" Jerusalem with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.
According to Israeli figures, some 320,000 Palestinians currently live in East Jerusalem while more than 270,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements that have been built in the area.
On Wednesday, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported that the Israeli authorities had recently demolished more than 168 Palestinian homes on the pretext that they had been built without permits.
The latest spate of demolitions, the group said, brought the total number of Palestinians to be displaced in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to 740 -- including 384 children -- since the beginning of the year.
According to B’Tselem, the demolitions have been largely concentrated in "Area C" of the West Bank, which remains under full Israeli security and civilian control in line with the 1993 Oslo Accords.
