More than 40 percent of Palestinians living in the center of the West Bank city of Hebron, under Israeli control, have been forced to leave their homes, and more than 75 percent of their shops have shut down, according to a study published Monday by two Israeli human rights groups.
B'Tselem and The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the exit of Palestinians from the center of Hebron resulted from Israel's policy of separation between Jews and Palestinians and hardships imposed on the local Palestinian population. Israel controls the center of the city, where some 450 settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among about 160,000 Palestinians.
The research indicated that at least 1,014 Palestinian housing units, which account for 41.9 percent of those in the area, are empty. Of these, 65 percent were vacated during the course of al Aqsa uprising, which started in Sept. 2000.
B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli told the AP the Palestinians were forced to move because the Israeli army imposed strict limitations on their movement and livelihoods. "They created conditions that made the Palestinians move," Michaeli said. "The army can't now say that they didn't know this was going to happen."
The report also showed that 1,829 Palestinian shops, which account for 76.6 percent of all the businesses in the area, are no longer open. Of these, 62.4 percent were closed during the course of al Aqsa uprising.
