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Palestinians call for punishing Israel for house demolitions

Xinhua, April 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on the international community to "punish" Israel for its demolition of Palestinian houses, in the West Bank, particularly in Area (C).

The ministry said in an emailed press statement that it strongly condemned the demolition and land levelling of a children's playground, which was funded by the Belgian government in Za'atara town near Nablus.

The statement also denounced the demolition of three under-construction houses in Al-Walaja near Bethlehem.

The ministry also denounced closing down a section of Road 437, a main road connecting several Palestinian towns and villages to the Israeli military checkpoint Hizma, and East Jerusalem.

The ministry said that "those discriminatory measures come along what the Israeli rights Peace Now organization revealed of increased plans to build more settlement units in the West Bank in the first quarter of 2016 by three times."

The statement said that those plans represent "a clear prove that Netanhyahu aims at uprooting Palestinians from Areas (C) and limiting the Palestinians ability to meet their natural growth needs."

The statement added that this rapid Israeli campaigns to house more settlers in those areas "are part of its plan to annex and judiaze Area (C)."

The ministry called on the European Union (EU) and the Belgian Government to "monitor the tracking and demolition orders of projects funded by the EU states and questioning the Israeli government for its flagrant violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions."

Recent reports by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories (OCHA) underscored a significant increase in demolitions in the West Bank's areas (C). Endit