Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and property highest since records began

13 January 2017

The Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes and property has reached an alarming high in 2016. A new Al Jazeera interactive tool launched this week shows that demolitions soared in 2016, with the Israeli authorities demolishing or seizing 1,089 Palestinian-owned structures throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, displacing 1,593 Palestinians. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that these are the highest demolition and displacement figures since they began recording in 2009.

The majority of these demolitions took place due to the absence of Israeli-issued building permits. However, OCHA’s figures demonstrate that Israeli authorities approved less than 2% of all requests submitted for building permits by Palestinians between 2010 and 2014.

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have continued this alarming trend. The number of Palestinian buildings demolished in the first week of January was almost four times as high, 67 structures, as the weekly average for 2016: 20 structures. In 2015, the average was 10 structures a week, according to the records of OCHA.

For the 10th year MAP is supporting Islah Charitable Society (ICS) to provide primary health care to Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, through a mobile clinic. Living in Area C of the West Bank, these individuals encounter high numbers of house and property demolitions, severely limiting their access to health and education services as well as creating a harmful living environment.

The demolition of civilian property in occupied territory violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits demolitions unless rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. MAP continues to call for an immediate halt to the demolitions of Palestinian homes and the protection of Palestinian health and dignity. 

Click here to view Al Jazeera’s interactive tool