Israel demolishing chances for peace

Israeli atrocities against Palestinians refuse to cease. Large-scale home demolitions, construction of a controversial separation barrier, new settlement homes name it, and Israel is at it.

This is besides the repeated, highly condemnable killings of Palestinians on baseless grounds.

"In a blatant violation of international law, the Israeli military has more than tripled its demolitions of Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank in the past three months," said The Gulf Today's editorial on Saturday.

It added that figures collated by the UN’s office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs, which operates in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, show that from an average of 50 demolitions a month in 2012-2015, the average has risen to 165 a month since January, with 235 demolitions in February alone.

As UN officials point out, the hardest hit are Bedouin and Palestinian farming communities who are at risk of forcible transfer, which is a clear violation of international law.

The paper noted that just on Wednesday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East condemned the large-scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills.

As a result, according to UNRWA, 31 Palestine refugees, including 16 children, were made homeless in a community that has endured several rounds of demolitions and often faced harassment from the nearby illegal settlement of Karmel.

Already this year, over 700 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli demolitions in the West Bank.

As if such aggravation is not enough, Israel has begun construction on a controversial part of its separation barrier in the occupied West Bank" it added.

"This part of the wall could cut Palestinians from their olive groves and certainly amount to land grab," the paper said.

Residents of Beit Jala rightly fear the construction of the apartheid wall may lead to the expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. It may be recalled that the International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that construction of the barrier was illegal and, like the UN General Assembly, demanded it be dismantled.

It is another matter that Israel refuses to care for such sane voices. What is abundantly clear with each passing day is that Israel is just not interested in peace.

"It is sad that Israel’s closest ally, the United States, continues to shut its eyes to Israeli atrocities. The earlier it wakes up to reality and reins in the occupation forces, the better," the paper concludes.