1. 1967 Six Day War and Military Occupation
Following the Israeli invasion of the West Bank in 1967, Israel transitioned into
a deeply entrenched military occupation, where the Israeli army controls the
territory and applies martial rule on the Palestinian population. The deployment
of checkpoints is characteristic of Israel’s use of force to isolate the Palestinian
people and fragment their territory to better control and confiscate it. According
to OCHA, a total of 14038 checkpoints within the West Bank prevent Palestinians
from accessing their own land, including 64 of which are permanently staffed
with armed occupation forces. To this day, military assaults continue to target
Palestinian properties in the West Bank. During Operation Defensive Shield
in 2002, 878 refugee homes were demolished and 2800 others were damaged,
leaving more than 17,000 individuals homeless.39
2. Imposition of a Coercive Environment: Forced Evictions and
Settler Violence
Forced evictions and home demolitions are also a clear illustration of Israeli
use of force to displace Palestinians and confiscate their lands. Carried out by
demolition crews accompanied by security officials, they may occur at any time
in Area C of the West Bank, giving families very little notice or opportunity to
remove their possessions. Justifying the demolitions by a lack of construction
permits, which are virtually impossible to obtain for Palestinians, the Israeli Civil
Administration has enforced sanctions against construction without permits
in a discriminatory manner: between 1988 and 2014, 14,087 demolition orders
were approved against Palestinian structures in Area C while only 6,948 targeted
structures in Israeli settlements.40 Those demolition orders are carried out
38 OCHA oPt, “Over 700 road obstacles control Palestinian movement within the West
Bank”, Accessed 15 February 2022, Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/
over-700-road-obstacles-control-palestinian-movement-within-west-bank
39 United Nations, “Report of [the UN] Secretary-General on Recent Events in Jenin, Other
Palestinian Cities”, August 2002, Accessed 15 February 2022, Available at: https://
www.un.org/press/en/2002/SG2077.doc.htm
40 Amnesty International, “Israeli authorities must transfer planning powers to
Palestinians in Area C of the occupied West Bank”, 2015, Accessed 15 February
2022, Available at: amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/1430/2015/en
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