People gather around the rubble of a house after it was demolished in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. Palestine warned on Wednesday that the Israeli government's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian presence in parts of the occupied West Bank. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
RAMALLAH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Palestine warned on Wednesday that the Israeli government's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian presence in parts of the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is "an unprecedented escalation, a war crime and a crime against humanity," which leads to "catastrophic risks," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement.
"It is an Israeli attempt to eliminate the Palestinian presence in Area C, emptying it of its Palestinian inhabitants, the owners of the land, and allocating it as a strategic depth for settlement," the ministry added.
Under the Oslo accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government in 1993, the West Bank region was divided into three areas: Area A under the Palestinian control, Area B under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control, and Area C under full Israeli control which comprises about 60 percent of the total territory of the region.
Palestine holds the Israeli government "fully and directly responsible for the consequences and repercussions" of the policy that represents "a gross and flagrant violation of international law," the ministry concluded.
On Wednesday, Israel demolished two Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a statement by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has built up dozens of settlements in the region which are considered illegal under international law.
The last round of direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians broke down in March 2014, as the two sides have remained deeply divided over issues of settlements, confiscation of land, and demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. ■
People operate excavators to demolish a house in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. Palestine warned on Wednesday that the Israeli government's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian presence in parts of the occupied West Bank. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
People operate excavators to demolish a house in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. Palestine warned on Wednesday that the Israeli government's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian presence in parts of the occupied West Bank. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
