TEL AVIV, 23 Feb. - (ANA) - Palestinians in the West Bank were granted just 66 building permits over an 11-year period, while Israeli authorities approved 22,000 permits for settlers - highlighting one of the many forms of discrimination Palestinians face amid occupation.

 

The permits were issued to the Palestinians and the illegal settlers between 2009 and 2020, according to Haaretz.

 

Widespread demolitions were carried out by Israeli authorities since January in the Taawun neighbourhood, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, with Haaretz describing this as "just one example of the accelerating pace of demolitions across the West Bank."

 

Taawun, which lies in Area C- under full Israeli civil and security control under the 1993 Oslo Accords- did not receive any building permits from Israel despite not being near any Israeli road or settlement, according to Haaretz.

 

In January alone, the Israeli army demolished 24 Palestinian structures in Area C due to a lack of building permits, Haaretz said.

 

Permits for Palestinian construction are rarely approved, resulting in high rates of demolition of homes under the pretext that they have been "illegally" constructed. 

 

Alongside Area C, the West Bank was divided into two additional administrative areas under the 1995 Oslo II Accord: Area A, under full Palestinian civil and security control; and Area B, under Palestinian civil administration with Israeli security control.

 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that at least 2,461 Palestinian structures were demolished over the past two years due to the absence of building permits.

 

This compares with 4,984 demolitions recorded over the previous nine years. 

 

As a result, approximately 3,500 people were displaced during the two-year period.

 

Haaretz reported that the demolition campaign over the past two years has coincided with the displacement of around 80 Palestinian communities, attributed to the rapid expansion of settler farms and outposts. 

 

Last October, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said Israel had demolished more Palestinian homes and structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over permit issues in the first nine months of 2025 than during the entirety of 2024.  

 

The NRC recorded a 39 per cent rise in demolitions linked to permit denials compared with the same period the previous year. It noted that 929 structures were demolished for lacking permits during that earlier period, while 1,281 structures were demolished over permit issues throughout 2024. 

 

Palestinians and human rights groups say that the demolitions stem from a planning system that effectively denies Palestinians the right to build in Area C. They have said that the policy amounts to collective punishment and violates international law. 

 

The latest developments come amid a plan recently approved by the Israeli government to resume Israeli land registration in the occupied West Bank.  

 

The move would enable authorities to seize land from Palestinians unable to prove ownership, with the Palestinian Authority presidency describing the decision as amounting to "de facto annexation” of the West Bank. 

 

The resumption of land registration procedures in the Israeli-occupied territory would also apply to Area C, marking the first time since the 1967 occupation that Israel has moved to register land there as state property.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/23 February 2026 - - -