Slippery Slope

The Shin Bet has recommended demolition of the houses of the families of Amjad and Hakim Awad, killers of the Fogel family, both of them already sentenced to five life sentences in prison, even after the Association for Civil Rights had previously stated in 2009 that family house demolitions means the total destruction of family life and hurts the right for dignity.

(Hebrew)

The United Nations has called on Israel to immediately halt the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, after a dramatic increase in such demolitions was reported in the last year.  In 2011 Israeli security forces demolished 622 homes in the West Bank, housing over 1,100 people, over half of them children.  According to Maxwell Gaylard, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, ”The current policy and practice of demolitions cause extensive human suffering and should end.”

The Palestinian news agency reports that according to a UNRWA report, in the month of March, the record was broken for the number of Palestinian homes and buildings demolished by Israel. This is the third month in a row in which this record is being broken.

Hebrew

Forces of the Civil Administration, together with security forces, demolished four Palestinian temporary houses in Khirbet Susiya, in southern Hebron area in the West Bank. The houses were two tin constructions and two tents.

(hebrew)

Israel Land Administration (ILA) and Border Patrol forces demolished a significant part of the Neighborhood 68, on Helen Keller street, Lod. More than 80 people, including 51 children, were made homeless. No alternative accommodation was provided, despite the heavy rains. The demolition orders were issued at 2 a.m. by court order, pursuant to the claim that the homes were constructed illegally on ILA lands. Seven households were destroyed, sewage infrastructure was torn out of the ground, and water and electricity connections disconnected. (Hebrew)