Israel demolishes more homes in occupied West Bank

Israel continues to demolish more Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank amid UN concerns that the destructions “severely threaten” the lives of the families who lost their homes.

The latest demolitions by Israeli bulldozers, which occurred near Ramallah and Jericho on Christmas Eve, have displaced over 70 Palestinians including at least 32 kids.

According to a statement issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Wednesday, a five-year-old Palestinian girl “who’s paralyzed from the waist down” is among those displaced by Israel’s latest move.

The UNRWA also condemned the move, calling on Tel Aviv to immediately halt the demolitions.

The UN relief agency said these acts violate the international law and leave thousands of Palestinians homeless in the cold.

Israel has recently announced plans to build thousands of more illegal settler units on Palestinian territories, despite the opposition of the United Nations and the international community.

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has been a major stumbling block to efforts aimed at establishing peace in the Middle East.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.