EU demands compensation for Israeli home demolitions
Israel frequently demolishes Palestinian and Bedouin homes on pretext they were built without permits
JERUSALEM
Eight European countries have written a protest letter to Israel demanding financial compensation for the confiscation -- and demolition -- of Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank, Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.
The newspaper reported late Wednesday that the protest letter -- the first of its kind -- was expected to be delivered to Israeli Foreign Ministry officials within days.
According to Haaretz, the letter includes a demand for $35,400 from the Israeli government in compensation for confiscated or demolished homes and structures.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed European official as saying that the initiative was being led by Belgium.
“The other countries involved in drafting the letter are France, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland and Denmark,” the newspaper added.
The eight countries, it went on to explain, “are protesting the confiscation of solar panels installed in Bedouin communities and the demolition of mobile structures that were financed [by the EU] in various Bedouin communities”.
Haaretz also quoted a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official as recounting how Belgian Ambassador to Israel Oliver Belle had stated earlier this year that if Israel did not return confiscated equipment, Brussels would “formally demand compensation”.
The ministry official reportedly went on to say Belle had “managed to persuade his colleagues to turn the demand into an agreed-upon position that would be officially conveyed to Israel”.
The Israeli authorities frequently demolish Palestinian and Bedouin structures -- both inside Israel and in the occupied West Bank -- on the pretext that they were built without government permission.
