Extremist Israeli minister granted authority to raze Palestinian homes in 1948 territories
Israel has been destroying Palestinian homes for years under the pretext that they are ‘unlawfully built’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has been granted the authority to demolish Palestinian homes in the lands seized by Israel in 1948, now considered Israeli territory under international law.
The Knesset approved on 25 July the transfer of the Israel Land Authority from the Finance Ministry to the National Security Ministry, according to Hebrew media.
This is in line with coalition agreements between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The Land Authority is responsible for “demolishing illegal buildings and enforcing planning and construction violations,” the outlet reported. Ben Gvir had previously demanded that the authority be placed under his jurisdiction.
The Knesset passed the bill with 55 in favor and 51 against.
“The powers and work of the Land Enforcement Authority give Ben Gvir responsibility for demolishing homes in the Arab community within the 1948 territories on the pretext of unlicensed construction … the enforcement of these powers has never been applied in the Jewish community,” Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Thursday.
For years, Israel has been demolishing Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank under the pretext that they were built without permits. Yet Tel Aviv systematically limits Palestinians from obtaining building permits and generally only allows the building of new homes in majority-Jewish neighborhoods.
“These [demolitions] are done under the guise of law enforcement – as if it is a bureaucratic measure – but it is actually a form of state violence and it serves as a mechanism of Palestinian displacement to drive them from the city,” Amy Cohen of the Israeli non-profit activist organization, Ir Amim, said in February this year.
Israel also typically uses home demolition as a punitive measure against people engaged in resistance against occupation in the West Bank, detonating homes of fighters or people who have carried out operations against soldiers and settlers.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel has stepped up its demolition of Palestinian homes.
Israeli forces destroyed seventeen Palestinian homes in the West Bank in a single day late last month.