JERUSALEM – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement has welcomed the letter by 81 British parliamentarians to the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, calling on the British government to do everything in its power to stop the mass, forced evictions and dispossession by the Israeli authorities of Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem.
Fatah called on the British government to ‘act in accordance with the letter of the parliamentarians because it goes along with similar calls by the United Nations and forms an opportunity to curb the racist Israeli practices that seek to change the status quo in the occupied city in a way that obstructs justice for the Palestinian people, particularly in their capital.’
Fatah movement spokesman Jamal Nazzal expressed hope that European parliamentarians would exert pressure on their governments to take steps that would deter Israel from displacing Palestinians from their homes under various pretexts.
In their letter to Raab, the British lawmakers have made it clear that evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, some of which have already taken place, are a violation of international law, and that it is Britain’s job to make sure they do not happen.
- Israel seized more tents donated by humanitarian organisations to Palestinian Bedouins in Humsa al-Bqaia in the northern Jordan Valley yesterday and continued to block international aid since demolishing or confiscating 46 structures in the community in one week, said a press release by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
‘Israel appears determined to force Palestinians out of their village of Humsa al-Bqaia, depriving them of basic shelter and making their lives miserable, while destroying international aid donated to the most vulnerable,’ said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
‘The international community has once again witnessed attacks on some of the poorest families on occupied Palestinian land. Empty words of “concern” are not enough for these families who find themselves homeless and deprived of the most basic needs.
‘The international community, including European governments, must do more to stop forced displacement and demand that Israel provide reparations to Palestinian victims.’
On 1st February, Israeli forces confiscated 25 structures in the Humsa al-Bqaia Bedouin community in the northern Jordan Valley on the alleged basis that they lacked an Israeli building permit for construction in Area C. On 3rd February, Israeli forces returned to seize a further 21 structures.
Sixty Palestinians have been uprooted from their homes, including 35 children. Structures demolished included 21 homes, 17 livestock shelters, and eight water and hygiene facilities.
