In 2020, Israeli authorities demolished 729 Palestinian structures, including 273 homes and 456 non-residential structures and infrastructure facilities, leaving 1,006 Palestinians – 519 of them minors – homeless, according to the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories B’Tselem.
"Despite the pandemic and the unprecedented economic crisis, Israel has ramped up home demolitions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," said B’Tselem in its report.
"This includes humanitarian infrastructure such as water cisterns and pipes or power grids, which are essential to maintaining health and sanitation, which are particularly important at this time," it added.
B’Tselem confirmed that Israel tries to justify the broad destruction as law enforcement; however, the law has little to do with this policy.
"The planning system Israel itself created – run by the Civil Administration in the West Bank and the Jerusalem municipality in East Jerusalem – blocks Palestinian development and does not permit Palestinians to build homes. This system works primarily to demolish structures – instead of planning to reflect the population's present and future needs," the center highlighted.
Over the course of 2020, Israeli forces killed 27 Palestinians, seven of them minors. At least 11 of the Palestinians killed posed no threat to the lives of the Israeli forces or any other person at the time they were shot, if at all, and the forces fired at them with no justification.
Moreover, B'Tselem pointed out that it documented 248 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in 2020, including bodily assaults, stone-throwing at homes, and targeting Palestinian farmers and their property, including 80 cases of damage to Palestinian-owned trees and crops, resulting in more than 3,000 trees vandalized.
"These violent acts could not take place without the sweeping support provided by the state. While security forces back the perpetrators in real-time, the law enforcement system releases them from accountability," it underscored.
"In almost all cases, no investigation is launched, and no one is held accountable for causing harm to Palestinians. The rare investigations that are launched usually end with no further measures taken. In the even rarer instance of an indictment – the charges fall far short of reflecting the gravity of the acts, and the sentences are ludicrous."
According to the report, in 2020, Israeli forces invaded Palestinian villages and towns at least 3,000 times and Palestinian homes at least 2,480 times.
"Every day – and every night – soldiers enter Palestinians' homes throughout the West Bank, disrupting the lives of families, intimidating entire households, and invading their privacy," it said.
In addition, B'Tselem stressed that the Israeli forces last year set up at least 3,524 flying checkpoints in addition to the regular ones, pointing out that the Israeli soldiers restrict Palestinians' freedom of movement and seal off roads permanently or temporarily, detain Palestinians at checkpoints, demand they follow their orders, humiliate them and sometimes resort to physical violence.
It also stated that the Israeli forces arrested at least 2,785 Palestinians in 2020.
"The military also arrests Palestinians throughout the West Bank. The forces often arrive at night, drawing residents – and their children – out of bed in the dead of night. They regularly employ verbal and physical violence and do not notify the families where the arrested person is being taken, why, and what awaits them."
Source : Safa