UN, EU Slam Israeli Plan to Raze Entire Palestinian Village

United Nations officials slammed an Israeli plan to demolish an entire Bedouin village in the West Bank Wednesday to make way for settlement construction in an escalation of demolitions, saying that the vulnerable communities in question already struggle to meet minimum living standards under full Israeli occupation.

RELATED:
Israeli Pesticides Leading to Human Rights, Environmental Abuse

"This is unacceptable and it must stop," Robert Piper, U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said in statement after visiting the village.

"Khan al-Ahmar is one of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank struggling to maintain a minimum standard of living in the face of intense pressure from the Israeli authorities to move."

At least 140 structures including a primary school are due for destruction by Israeli forces after residents of Khan al-Ahmar received demolition orders.

The village is in Area C of the occupied West Bank which falls under the full control of the Israeli Army and where many of the government-sanctioned illegal settlement are.

The destruction of Khan al-Ahmar and several Bedouin villages in the area would allow Israeli authorities to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements nearby.

Area C constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank, which Palestinians hope to be part of their future state. “The developments in Khan al-Ahmar are not unique,” Piper said.

“Thousands of families live in fear of demolitions at any moment, and entire communities exist in chronic instability.

ANALYSIS:
Is International Palestine Solidarity Just a Symbolic Gesture?

“When schools are demolished, the right to education of Palestinian children is also threatened. This creates a coercive environment that forces certain Palestinian communities to move elsewhere. ”

Israel, which says the structures in those villages are illegally built without permits, normally avoids demolitions in Area C, according to Haaretz, because of the involvement of European, U.S. and U.N. diplomats with the local communities.

The U.N. and other rights groups in Palestine and Israel repeatedly said that building permits are almost never granted for Palestinians in Area C.

Scott Anderson, the director of U.N. Relief and Works Agency Operations in the West Bank slammed the actions by Israel against the Bedouin communities in the area, saying “many of these Palestine refugee families have already had their homes demolished several times within the last couple of years.”

The European Union missions in Palestine also issued a statement Wednesday condemning the demolition Palestinian homes which conflicts with its obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law, Palestinian State agency WAFA reported.