Washington – Israeli authorities demolished and confiscated 38 buildings, including 14 homes, and injured 1,310 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem from June 13 to July 4, the UN reported on Wednesday. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine said the demolitions have displaced 48 Palestinians, including 22 children, and have impacted the livelihoods of more than 8,000 others. It added that Israel justified the demolitions by stating that the Palestinians did not have building permits.

Twenty three of the buildings were in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli civilian and military control, OCHA stated. Six of the buildings were provided by international donors in response to previous demolitions, including Hammamet Al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley and the Ein Al-Hilweh-Umm Al-Jimal communities in the Tubas Governorate.

Israeli occupation authorities also demolished 15 residential buildings in the city of Jerusalem, including a building in Al-Thawri neighborhood, which resulted in the displacement of two families comprising 14 members, including six children, according to OCHA. Eleven owners demolished their own buildings in order to avoid hefty enforcement fines.

OCHA stressed that punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment and are illegal under international law.

1,310 Palestinians, including at least 103 minors, were also injured across the West Bank over the same two-week period, including 105 from live fire. The OCHA report also showed that settlers injured 19 Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 46 incidents over four consecutive days, between 20 and 24 June, in parts of the northern and central West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces opened fire on at least 21 occasions, near the border fence with the Strip or off the coast.