The Israeli government's demolition of a building that was meant to be a badly-needed testing and quarantine center for Palestinians in Hebron, the West Bank. According to Haaretz, the Palestinian Health Ministry was involved in the decision to build the coronavirus center.
The Israeli Civil Administration demolished the building, on Tuesday, claiming the structure was being erected illegally without a permit. The building was set to open to the public next week.
The Israeli Civil Administration demolished the building, on Tuesday, claiming the structure was being erected illegally without a permit. The building was set to open to the public next week.
The demolition came as Hebron recorded the most coronavirus cases in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday that there were 154 new cases in Hebron district the day the building was destroyed, including 60 in the city itself.
Hospitals in Hebron are filled to capacity.
Construction began three months ago, and the family did not apply for a permit from the Israeli government; Israel controls the area in which Hebron lies, known as Area C, where Palestinians are rarely granted building permits.
"If we applied for a permit, we would not have gotten it," Maswada who donated his land to the city of Hebron to help the community during the Covid-19 pandemic. told the Middle East Eye. "We thought maybe during Covid-19, there would be some exceptions."
In March, the Civil Administration confiscated tents that were meant to form a field clinic and emergency housing in the West Bank during the pandemic.
"There is no humanity in destroying grassroots attempts to support an already deprived health system suffocated by occupation," tweeted Daniel Lubin, an organizer with the British anti-occupation group Na'amod.
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