Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights - June 30, 2008 - Back to Resources Page

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For many years, planning and building have been among the most serious sources of daily friction
between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian population in the West Bank. The interim
agreement with the PLO (1995), under which all the planning powers in Areas A and B (together
accounting for approximately 40 percent of the area of the West Bank) were transferred to the
Palestinian Authority, was supposed to moderate this protracted conflict. However, approximately
60 percent of the West Bank remains in Area C, under exclusive Israeli planning control. In this area
the policies of the Israeli authorities designed to restrict and prevent Palestinian construction have
only got worse.

Some 150,000 Palestinians currently live in Area C. This figure includes 47,000 Palestinians who
live in 149 communities whose entire built-up area is located within Area C, while the remainder
live in villages where some of the homes are in Areas A and B and others in Area C. Accordingly,
Israeli planning policy continues to exert considerable influence over a significant Palestinian
population.

From the beginning of 2000 through September 2007, the Israeli Civil Administration issued
demolition orders for 4,820 buildings established by Palestinians in Area C – an average of 714
demolition orders each year. Although the owners of the buildings initiated various proceedings in
an effort to prevent demolition, including dozens of petitions submitted to the High Court of Justice
(HCJ), a total of 1,626 buildings were demolished in Area C over this same period – an average of
240 buildings a year.

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Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights - June 30, 2008 - Back to Resources Page