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Structure in West Bank Settlement
Photo: Peace Now

Peace Now: Only 3% of settlement demolition orders carried out

‘Construction law not enforced in West Bank settlements,’ says Peace Now Movement of new report published by Civilian Administration. IDF also implicated

Of 3,449 demolition orders issued for West Bank settlements by the Civil Administration during the past decade, only 3% were actually carried out, so states a new report issued by the “Peace Now” movement Tuesday morning.

 

The report was based on statistics provided by the Civil Administration, which is the army body charged with administrating the West Bank. It states that thousands of demolition orders were issued for illegal structures in West Bank settlements and settlement outposts, but only a fraction were actually carried out by the IDF. More than half of these aforementioned orders were for structures within the settlements themselves.

 

The report lists industrial companies, cellular companies, public officials, and the IDF as construction violators, noting that the worst offenders as far as illegal construction is concerned, appear to be the settlement of Ofra, with 196 cases, as well as the settlement of Bet- El. Bruchin heads the list of outposts with 104 cases of illegal construction, followed by Shvut Rachel with 98, and then Migron with 75 and Hayovel with 62 cases. The Peace Now movement filed charges against the two latter outposts with the Israeli High Court.

 

The IDF also appears to be a construction violator, according to the “Peace Now” report. A case file was opened against the military in November 2000 for engineering projects conducted near Beit Omer.

 

The report failed to mention incidents of illegal construction by Palestinians. Statistics attained by Ynet staff indicate that during the 1997-2007 time period mentioned by the Peace Now report, 6,286 case files were opened for illegal Palestinian structures. Of those illegal buildings, only 1,567 were destroyed by the Civilian Administration (a mere 24%), and 499 were voluntarily demolished by the PA.

 

The Yesha Council said in response to these figures that “the report in question is one sided and incomplete. A more objective report would also cite illegal Arab construction in the Negev and West Bank in order to paint a more accurate picture of this issue and its scope.”

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.04.07, 12:39
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