More than 11,000 demolition orders are pending against at least 13,000 Palestinian structures in the part of the West Bank known as Area C, which is under full Israeli control, according to data from Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank.

The data show that in 1988-1995, only 49 demolition orders a year, on average, were issued in the 60 percent of the West Bank designated as Area C under the 1993 Oslo Accord. The average shot up to 304 in 1996-2001, then rose to 511 in 2002-2009; throughout these 13 years, there was a slow but steady rise from year to year. But in 2010-2014, the average almost doubled, to 966 per year.

Demolition orders are issued against many different types of structures, from homes and public buildings solidly built of concrete blocks through tents and tin shacks to sheepfolds, portable toilets, electricity pylons, solar panels and cisterns for collecting rainwater. What they all have in common is that they were built without permits from the Civil Administration.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs analyzed the Civil Administration data, which was obtained thanks to a freedom-of-information request filed by Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights and independent researcher Dror Etkes. OCHA’s report will be published today.

The data show that from 1988 through the end of 2014, Israel issued 14,087 demolition orders against Palestinian structures. Of these, 2,802, or 19.9 percent, were carried out.

Open gallery view A Palestinian gestures as he inspects the remains of his tent destroyed by the Israeli army, in the West Bank village of Faresiya near Tubas, Monday, July 19, 2010. Credit: AP

During those same years, the Civil Administration issued 6,984 demolition orders against structures erected by Jewish settlers. Of those, only 854, or 12 percent, were implemented.

Some 300,000 Palestinians and about 356,000 settlers live in Area C. But OCHA’s report stresses that a strictly numerical comparison is unfair, because the two populations start from radically different positions.

The Civil Administration has thus far approved master plans for Jewish settlements covering 282,174 dunams, or 8.5 percent of Area C. The unplanned area encompassed by the settlements’ municipal boundaries is much larger.

In contrast, approved master plans for Palestinian communities cover only 18,243 dunams – less than one percent of Area C.

Moreover, the report says, Palestinians filed 2,030 requests for building permits in 2010-14, yet of these, only 33 – 1.5 percent – were approved. In contrast, Israel issued tenders for building 2,359 housing units in the settlements in 2014 alone.

OCHA began documenting the demolition of Palestinian structures in the mid-2000s. In 2009, it documented 190 demolitions, jumping to 351 in 2010 and a peak of 577 in 2011. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, the numbers were 524, 564 and 496, respectively. But this year is on track to set a new record, with 384 demolitions in the first six months alone.

The report also quotes Israel’s rationale for the demolitions: They are a legitimate enforcement measure under Jordanian law – the law in force when Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, which the Hague Conventions require an occupying power to respect – as well as under military orders issued since 1967 and the 1995 interim agreement with the Palestinians, which said that planning in Area C must be approved by Israeli planning agencies.

In response to the report the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories issued the following response: "The numbers that appear in the report do not correspond to what is happening on the ground, since, among other reasons, the report includes data from East Jerusalem, which isn't under our jurisdiction. In accordance with the interim agreements Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed, agreements that are recognized by the international community, all construction in Area C requires the authorization of the responsible authorities. It should be noted that the Civil Administration is currently working on 13 outline plans, as per the requests on the Palestinian population, plans which are in advance planning stages, of which four have already passed the planning stage."

Contrary to what is stated in the response OCHA's report does include buildings in Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem District, but doesn't include those in East Jerusalem.