UNRWA condemns Israel's Christmas eve demolitions in West Bank

The United Nations Palestine refugee agency on Wednesday condemned Israel's latest demolitions of Palestinian Bedouin homes in the West Bank, which UNRWA said displaced 68 people. The latest demolitions in the West Bank, "the most recent of which occurred on Christmas Eve," have "severely threatened" the livelihoods of the families that lost their homes, UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunnes said in a statement quoted by the Palestinian Maan news agency. According to UNRWA, the demolitions that occurred near Ramallah and Jericho displaced 68 people in total, most of whom were refugees, and 32 of whom were children, "including a five year old girl who is paralyzed from the waist down." The demolitions took place in Ein Ayoub, displacing 61, and in Fasayil al-Wusta displacing seven, Gunnes said. Gunnes said the home demolitions violated international law, and that they have forced communities who have historically been self sufficient to rely on international aid and "endure the pitiless seasonal weather in inadequate housing.