IOF bulldoze over 20 dunums, uproot hundreds of trees in al-Khalil
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The destruction has caused substantial financial losses for the affected Palestinian families and extensive damage to their properties.
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Israeli machinery demolishes a Palestinian house near Yatta in the southern area of the occupied West Bank town of al-Khalil. (AFP)
Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday bulldozed over 20 dunams of land, uprooted more than 600 trees, and demolished several agricultural structures and water wells belonging to Palestinian residents in the town of Beit Ula, west of occupied al-Khalil, the WAFA news agency reported.
Ibrahim al-'Adam, a member of the Beit Ula Municipal Council, mentioned that Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers and heavy machinery, stormed two areas west of the town, destroying more than 20 dunams of land and uprooting over 600 olive and fruit trees.
In addition, the occupation forces demolished multiple agricultural facilities, including five rooms used for farming, five wells, several plastic water tanks, retaining walls, and iron fences owned by local families.
According to the Palestinian official, the demolitions were carried out under the pretext that the areas are located in Area C, which makes up over 60% of the occupied West Bank and remains under full Israeli military and administrative control.
Al-'Adam pointed out that the destruction has caused substantial financial losses for the affected families and extensive damage to their properties.
In August, the UN Human Rights Office affirmed that the "alarming" expansion of Israeli settlements and recent legal changes in the occupied West Bank disregard international law.
"The UN Human Rights Office is alarmed by Israel’s recent and ongoing settlement expansion and legal changes in the occupied West Bank; measures which fly in the face of international law," it said.
In a press release, the UN body highlighted that the Israeli measures contravene a significant July ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
On July 19, an advisory opinion issued by the ICJ found that the Israeli occupation of al-Quds and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal and has resulted in settlement policies that breach international law.
"Israel" is "under the obligation to bring to an end its aunlawful presence as rapidly as possible," the ICJ ruling read.
The court added that "Israel" was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.
It further emphasized that "Israel's" policies and practices, including the maintenance of a separation wall between the territories, "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territory.
The UN Human Rights Office underlined that illegal settlements, settler violence, and the presence of settlers are the primary drivers of the majority of human rights abuses in the West Bank, including the eastern part of occupied al-Quds.
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