Heads of Mission and representatives from Belgium, Denmark, EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom visited the Humsa Al Bqai’a community near Tubas in the Jordan Valley and Ras Al Tin in the central West Bank.The visit followed the demolition of 30 residential, sanitation and livelihood structures by Israeli forces in Humsa Al Bqai’a that left 42 people including 24 children homeless, for the seventh time since last November.

During the visit, diplomats met residents, WBPC partners, as well as representatives of civil society organisations active in the community. Local residents briefed the diplomats on recent events, and the impact of the destruction and confiscation of residential, livelihood and sanitation facilities, by Israeli forces. Many of the demolished structures were funded by the EU, the WBPC, and other European and donor countries.

Head of the EU Representative Office, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff said: “This latest demolition, where Israeli authorities seem determined to remove the community from the place where they have lived for decades, while hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid, is of course detrimental to the community, but also to the international community. As a representative of the EU and a member of the WBPC together with likeminded countries, we continue to demand that Israel ceases forcible transfers, evictions, demolitions and confiscations of homes, all of which constitute violations of international humanitarian law. The EU has also repeatedly called for the restitution or compensation of EU-funded humanitarian assets which have been demolished, dismantled or confiscated by Israel.”

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