On 7 April 2016 Israeli forces demolished Bedouin homes and displaced at least 43 UN-registered refugees in Anata Village in the West Bank, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reports. A UNRWA spokesperson reported that seven homes, four animal shelters and four outdoor washrooms were demolished by the Israeli forces.

Twenty five children were among the seven families displaced by the demolition of their homes, as well as heavily-pregnant woman, an elderly woman, a man with Parkinson’s disease and a man unable to walk.  At least three further homes have been demolished by Israeli forces in the Jabal al-Mukaber neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem in the same morning. In continuing violation of International Humanitarian Law, further displacement has been caused by the Israelis’ confiscation of international donor-given caravans to the bedouin communities. In the first three months of 2016 alone, they destroyed 65 homes, claiming they are illegally built without permits, which are impossible to obtain according to aid groups.

The ambassadors of several European countries to the Occupied Territories have denounced the action of the Israeli military in a letter to the head of the Israeli body coordinating Israeli activities in the West Bank and Gaza condemning the confiscation of humanitarian shelters. In contrast, the Israeli Education Minister called for further construction in the occupied West Bank amidst the general ‘morbid silence’ of the international community.

To know more, read:

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772381
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/israeli-demolitions-displace-dozens-palestinians-160713124336539.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/19/475974/Palestine-Israel-Bedouin-West-Bank
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/18/ambassadors-protest-israel-confiscation-west-bank-bedouin-shelters