UN: Israel Demolished 9,000 Palestinian-Owned Structures Since 2009

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has demolished about 9,000 Palestinian-owned structures since 2009, displacing thousands of Palestinian civilians from their homes, according to a report issued by the UN on Saturday.

The IOA destroyed 8,746 Palestinian-owned structures, leaving 13,000 Palestinian civilians displaced and inflicting losses on 152,000 others, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), The Palestinian Information Center reported.

The report said that 1,559 Palestinian houses were demolished whether by the Israeli authority or self-demolished by their owners to avoid paying heavy fines.

It added that the demolition orders were issued against Palestinian-owned structures under the pretext of construction without permit.

In a related incident, a Jerusalemite family was forced on Saturday to self-demolish its 120-square-meter house which accommodates three families in order to avoid paying exorbitant fines if the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem carried out the demolition on its own.

During the first half of 2022, 90 Palestinian-owned structures in Jerusalem were demolished, 79 of which were self-demolished.