Israel issued 66 permits to Palestinians, 22,000 to settlers in 11 years: Report

JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities granted only 66 building permits to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank between 2009 and 2020, while 22,000 permits were issued to Israeli settlers during the same period, according to Haaretz.The newspaper said most of the West Bank remains off-limits to Palestinian development, forcing residents to build without permits.Haaretz cited demolitions carried out since January in the Taawun neighborhood south of Nablus, located in Area C of the West Bank. It reported that the area did not receive building permits from Israeli authorities despite being far from any settlement or access road.The newspaper said Al-Taawun reflects what it described as an accelerating pace of demolitions across the West Bank.In January alone, the Israeli army demolished 24 Palestinian buildings in Area C over a lack of permits.Citing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Haaretz reported that at least 2,461 Palestinian buildings were demolished over the past two years due to a lack of permits, compared with 4,984 structures over the previous nine years.The demolitions over the past two years resulted in around 3,500 people losing their homes, according to the report. OCHA did not specify whether the demolitions occurred exclusively in Area C or across the West Bank.Haaretz also reported that the demolition campaign coincided with the displacement of around 80 Palestinian communities amid the expansion of settler farms and outposts.Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, the West Bank was divided into three areas: Area A under full Palestinian control; Area B under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control; and Area C under full Israeli civil and security control, covering about 61 percent of the territory.Palestinians say Israel rarely grants building permits in Area C, limiting construction and land development.In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.