House Demolitions in the West Bank – 5 Nov. 2020 Daily Press Briefing – (Excerpts)

5 NOVEMBER 2020

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

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West Bank

Quick note on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, where on the West Bank, the acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Yvonne Helle, said that 73 people — more than half of whom were children — were displaced when Israeli authorities demolished their homes earlier this week in the community of Humsa Al Baqi’a.

Ms. Helle reminded all parties that the extensive destruction of property and the forcible transfer of protected people in an occupied territory are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  The humanitarian community stands ready to support all those who have been displaced or otherwise affected and they reiterate their call to Israel to immediately halt these unlawful demolitions.

And her statement has been posted.

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Questions and Answers

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Question:  Bring you to the…  I have two questions.  The first question is regarding also the subject of Palestine and the statement you read.  My question is, do you…  does the Secretary‑General condemn the demolition of Palestinian houses?  Thank you.

Spokesman:  Yes, we’ve always…  I mean, Mr. [Nickolay] Mladenov, in his reports and the Secretary‑General’s own reports, we have always stood firmly against this policy, and we’ve made it known both publicly and privately to the authorities.

Question:  But that’s actually different from condemning, so…

Spokesman:  We stand against, we condemn, I mean, we’re…  it’s…  we stand against these acts, and we’ve denounced them.

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For information media. Not an official record.