Middle East - AP
Statistics on Israeli Army Demolition
Date: Sun, May 16, 2004
By The Associated Press
The Israeli military has demolished dozens of homes in the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah over the weekend, following attacks that killed seven Israeli soldiers there. The army says it may raze hundreds more homes in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) shantytown to widen a military patrol road.
Following are statistics on demolitions since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, provided by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which administers Palestinian refugee camps:
_ Since Oct.1, 2000, 2,018 houses were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the Gaza Strip, making 18,382 people homeless. Of those, more than half were in the Rafah camp, where 1,309 houses were razed or irreparably damaged, and 12,600 people made homeless.
_ Eighty-eight homes were destroyed in Rafah over the weekend.
_ The overall figures include non-refugees, who make up about 15 percent of the total who have lost their homes.
_ While most demolitions are carried out by bulldozer, the U.N. figures also include damage from Israeli airstrikes.
_ The army says it does not keep a general record of demolitions but it believes the U.N. figures are exaggerated.
_ The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition said it does not keep an independent tally, but regards the U.N. figures as the most reliable.
_ The U.N. agency does not keep a formal tally in the West Bank in general, although it says 432 homes were destroyed during a 2002 military incursion into Jenin refugee camp. Aid workers estimate 500-800 houses have been demolished in the West Bank since the start of the uprising.
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