Amira Hass : Israel steps up pace of Bedouin home demolitions
The Civil Administration in the West Bank has stepped up demolitions of Bedouin buildings in the E-1 area east of Jerusalem since April. The area is slated for an expansion of the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim. The number of such demolitions in the first eight months of 2014 was higher than in any comparable period in the last five years, as was the number of people who lost their homes as a result, according to an analysis by the Association of International Development Agencies of data compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Although demolitions were carried out in only four of these eight months (March, April, May and August), more buildings were razed in the E-1 area in those months (35) than in all of 2013 (21). The number of people who lost their homes as a result rose to 156, from 57.