A Jerusalem planning board has given the go ahead for the demolition of 88 houses owned by Palestinians in the West Bank which will result in the displacement of some 1,400 people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday in its weekly report on protection of civilians in the occupied territories. The houses are located in the Silwan district of East Jerusalem and were built without proper planning permission, the Jerusalem Planning Board said, according to OCHA. Israeli occupying authorities control planning permission in the West Bank and human rights groups argue that it is almost impossible for Palestinians to get permission to build homes. In the Nablus district, an appeal by another six families was rejected and the demolition of their homes will displace some 180 people, OCHA said. In Bethlehem, OCHA reported that 70 olive trees were uprooted on February 20 by members of the Israeli army who said the land was owned by Israel under a 1994 law. Israeli authorities have reportedly allocated the land for the settlement of 2,500 housing units, OCHA said. In another incident, a 99-year-old Palestinian man was attacked and bitten by an Israeli military dog and was hospitalized for treatment. There were 116 search operations in the West Bank during the past week resulting in 84 arrests, OCHA said—the same weekly average as 2008.
