The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR) has accused Israeli authorities of accelerating efforts to forcibly displace large numbers of Palestinians from long-established towns and communities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to OHCHR, these forced removals are being facilitated by an order from the Israeli Civil Administration to systematically reject all Palestinian building and planning permit applications in Masafer Yatta, located in the South Hebron Hills, citing military training needs of the Israeli army, UNB reports.
“Over the past months, Israel has dramatically ramped up home demolitions, as well as the arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of Palestinians and human rights defenders, alongside intensifying movement restrictions in and around Masafer Yatta, to force Palestinians out,” the UN body stated.
Simultaneously, OHCHR said Israeli settlers from nearby unauthorized outposts—who themselves face no threat of eviction—have carried out daily assaults and acts of harassment targeting Palestinians, including the elderly, women, and children, with the aim of driving them from their homes.
The organisation warned that around 1,200 Palestinians could be subjected to forcible transfer, which constitutes both a war crime and potentially a crime against humanity.
Fourteen more people were killed this morning in Israeli attacks on Gaza, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic, bringing the death toll in the enclave to more than 90 over the past 24 hours.
At least three Palestinians were killed and several injured in an attack by Israeli settlers on Kafr Malek, northeast of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
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