Israel demolished 1,000+ Palestinian structures in 2021, displacing over 1,800: Report

A new report has revealed that Israeli forces demolished about 1,032 Palestinian homes and buildings in the occupied cities of West Bank and East al-Quds in 2021.

According to a report published by Land Research Center of the Arab Studies Society on Sunday, 361 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished during that period, displacing 1,834 Palestinians, including 954 children, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

The report also pointed out that Israeli forces have demolished 671 facilities providing various services for more than 5,455 Palestinians, including 2,600 children and 1,800 women.

It further said 93 wells that supplied water for 1,800 dunums of Palestinian agricultural land were demolished last year, in addition to 216 barns housing more than 16,400 heads of sheep.

Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

The Tel Aviv regime also plans to force out Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East al-Quds in in an attempt to replace them with settlers.

That plan sparked days of fighting between the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas and the Israeli regime in May last year.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.

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