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7 Apr, 2016

UN condemns Israel’s large-scale Bedouin home demolitions in occupied West Bank

United Nations, 6 April 2016, (UN News Centre) – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has condemned today’s large scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills.

As a result, according to UNRWA, 31 Palestine refugees, including 16 children, were made homeless in a community that has endured several rounds of demolitions and often faced harassment from the nearby illegal settlement of Karmel.

Already this year, over 700 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli demolitions in the West Bank. This figure is approaching the total number of displaced for all of 2015, said Lance Bartholomeusz, Director of UNRWA Operations in the West Bank, who said that he was “appalled” by the “unjustifiable” demolitions, which are in violation of international law.

“As the UN has said repeatedly, these demolitions must stop,” said UNRWA.

A boy in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills where large scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities took place. Photo: UNRWA

A boy in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills where large scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities took place. Photo: UNRWA