Israel has disputed a report by the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees which charged that Israeli authorities recently displaced 2,900 Gaza Strip families from their homes without providing them in advance with adequate alternative shelter. The Israeli statement, submitted to Secretary General U Thant with a covering letter from Ambassador Yosef Tekoah declared that “All possible safeguards have been taken to avoid undue hardship to inhabitants of the houses thus affected.” Tekoah’s letter explained that the measures taken in the Gaza Strip refugee camps, including demolition of houses for the construction of access roads, were necessitated to curb the mounting toll of lives taken among the camp inhabitants by Arab terrorists.
The Israeli statement said, “No demolition has taken place unless alternative housing, of at least equal standard, was provided to the occupants of the house. In most instances, the new accommodations are of a higher standard.” The report by the UNRWA official stated that 400 families had to move outside the Gaza Strip and that for many of those remaining, “their present living conditions must be worse than before and the health hazard must be greater.” According to the report, Israeli soldiers carrying out “these security operations” arrived in the camps, sometimes at night, “marked shelters for demolition and gave the inhabitants notices ranging from two to 48 hours to leave with all their belongings.”
The report stated that “about 4,360 rooms built by the Agency (UNRWA) or with its assistance have been demolished, and the government of Israel has been notified of a claim for compensation.” In addition, the report continued. “It is estimated that over 2,000 privately built rooms have been demolished.” The report acknowledged that the Israel government paid for the transportation of refugees to El Arish in northern Sinai and the West Bank and promised compensation for private property destroyed or otherwise “affected by demolition.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
