West Bank: Israel plans to demolish 17,000 Palestinian-owned buildings

As many as 17,000 structures belonging to Palestinians have been designated for destruction by Israel, according to a UN report published on Monday.

The structures are on privately owned Palestinian land in Area C, an part of the West Bank under Israeli military and civilian control.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that, of the 14,000 demolition orders issued since 1988 by Israel's Civil Administration, which governs the West Bank, more than 11,000 have not yet been carried out.

This means up to 17,000 Palestinian owned structures in Area C could be destroyed, including houses, sheds and shelters for animals.

The figures used in the report came from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said that Israel retained control of security and land management in Area C and "views the area as there to serve its own needs", reported The Guardian.

Palestinian Bedouins are affected by around 4,500 of these demolition orders.

Human rights organisations argue Israel wants to force Bedouins from their land so that it can expand Israeli-only settlements, which are illegal under international law.

In addition to the demolition orders made against Palestinians, a further 6,950 were made against illegal structures build in Jewish settlements.

According to Israeli Civil Administration data, of the 2,020 applications for building permits submitted by Palestinians in Area C between 2010 and 2014, only 33 (1.5 percent) were approved.

Area C makes up 60 percent of the West Bank and was designated as such by the 1995 Oslo II Accord. 

There are 300,000 Palestinians living in Area C, and nearly 360,000 Jewish settlers living in 135 settlements - illegal under international law - and 100 further settlement "outposts" that are also illegal under Israeli law.