News / Palestine

Israeli regime forces demolish homes of two Palestinians

Monday, 04 July 2016 2:37 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 04 July 2016 2:51 PM ]

Palestinians stand at a house that was demolished by Israeli authorities in the Qalandiya refugee camp, between al-Quds and Ramallah, on July 4, 2016. (AFP photo)

Israeli military forces have razed two Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank despite international condemnation of the regime’s demolition campaign against Palestinian homes and properties.

Local residents and witnesses said on Monday that Israeli soldiers and bulldozers rolled into the Qalandiya refugee camp and leveled two houses to the ground.

The demolition was carried out against the homes of the families of Issa Assaf and Annan Hammed, who were shot dead by Israeli forces during an alleged attack late last year near the Old City of al-Quds

Israeli forces also shot and injured at least four Palestinians during a series of fierce clashes in the troubled region.

A spokesperson of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at ambulances to prevent them from entering the camp to evacuate the wounded people, adding, “Israeli forces prevented ambulances at gunpoint from accessing the area.”

Israel routinely demolishes the homes of alleged Palestinian assailants. International rights groups and organizations have strongly denounced the demolition of Palestinian houses by Israeli troops.

Palestinians stand at a house that was demolished by Israeli authorities in the Qalandiya refugee camp, between al-Quds and Ramallah on July 4, 2016. (AFP photo)

Last month, the United Nations said Israel’s demolition campaign against Palestinian homes and structures across the occupied West Bank had increased four times compared to 2015, and left a record number of 808 Palestinians displaced since the start of 2016.

The UN announced in late April that a total of 588 Palestinian structures had been razed since January, adding that the demolitions have affected more than 1,000 people as they have lost structures related to their source of income.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement on April 8 that 124 Palestinians, including 60 children, had been made homeless in a single day as a result of Israeli demolitions in the West Bank.

Palestinians wait to cross an Israeli army checkpoint at a road next to the Palestinian town of Al-Fawwar south of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank on July 3, 2016. (AFP photo)

Tensions have heightened in the occupied territories since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

More than 220 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October. Some 30 Israelis have also been killed since then.

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