Tel Aviv Regime Approves Home Demolition Law
The law, which has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, was passed with 43 votes for the bill and 33 against.
The bill provides punishment of up to three years in jail, increases fines and reduces the powers of courts to postpone the date of demolition orders.
Palestinians were quick to denounce the move.
They say discrimination by authorities makes it impossible for them to obtain planning permission to expand their communities.
The result is that many families resort to building homes without permission, leaving them liable to demolition.
The new law will also concern around 300,000 Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Druze lawmaker Abdullah Abu Maaruf accused the Israeli premier of wanting to "please the (political) right at whatever cost and at the expense of the Arabs".
The law threatens "50,000 Arab homes in which hundreds of thousands of people live", he told AFP.
Israeli daily Haaretz says that 97 percent of demolition orders between 2012 and 2014 targeted Palestinian families.
