With politicians around the globe calling on Israel to take action against illegal settlements in the West Bank, Israel is instead destroying EU-funded buildings for Palestinians. The EU has helped to fund around 200 temporary structures, which are used as shelters mainly for the Bedouin communities. The Israeli regime has often tried to move the Bedouin people into housing planned by the state. Israeli activists say this is taking place so Tel Aviv can build its own settlements in the area.

This would effectively carve out an Israeli enclave running through the middle of the West Bank, thereby making it almost impossible to create a contiguous Palestinian state.

The charity Oxfam made a statement just days before the demolition, saying the EU needed to take a tougher line against the Israeli destruction of Palestinian homes, many of which were funded by EU taxpayer money.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it. This is a move that’s never been recognized by the international community while Israel’s continued policy to build settlements has brought condemnation from all over the world, including from the country’s staunch ally, the United States.

In late January, the US and the EU advised Israel against a plan to drop its plans to construct an additional 450 settlement homes in the West Bank, warning that failure to do so would further destabilize the situation in the region and diminish prospects for peace.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among 2.4 million Palestinians. The Israeli occupied territories have been seeking full Palestinian statehood and independence from Israel for decades. However, despite international criticism, the Israeli government encourages the Jewish population in the West Bank to build new settlements.

KQ/NN