U.N. reports rise in West Bank demolition

Demolition of West Bank homes by Israel last year displaced more than 1,100 Palestinians, most of them children, a United Nations report said. The majority of the demolition was done in a farmland and grazing section known as "Area C," which is 60 percent of the West Bank, and where Israel controls security and planning, the U.N. report said. The report Thursday from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that 622 homes, animal shelters, classrooms and mosques were razed, a 42 percent increase over 2010, affecting the livelihoods of 4,200 Palestinians. "The forced displacement of Palestinian families and the destruction of civilian homes and other property by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have a serious humanitarian impact," the report stated.