‘Palestinians have to pay for home demolition costs’

An Israeli court has ordered the demolition of a number of Palestinian homes, ruling that the homeowners must pay for the costs of the destruction of their houses.

The court ordered that each of the homeowners must pay 20,000 Israeli Shekels ($6,000) to Israeli authorities for the demolition of their homes.

The homes to be demolished in Haifa belong to the 65 members of the Palestinian Hamid family.

The family has requested a demolition freeze order and called on all Palestinians living in Haifa, Lod, and Ramle to protest against Israel’s discriminatory plans.

Many Palestinians are facing the same threat.

In January, Israeli forces handed 12 demolition orders to Palestinians living in al-Khalil (Hebron), including six homes and six water wells.

Last month, Palestinian demonstrators and foreign activists set up protest camps in the Jordan Valley, in a move aimed at drawing international attention to Tel Aviv’s expansionist policies.

In 2013, more than 1,000 people were displaced in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) after their homes were demolished for not having Israeli permits. This is while the office of James Rawley, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the demolitions took place even though the permits “are virtually impossible to obtain.”

Human rights groups have voiced concern over the rising number of Palestinian home demolitions in the occupied territories.

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.