UN warns of fresh displacement in West Bank's Masafer Yatta

UNITED NATIONS -- Nearly 60 Palestinians, including about 30 children, have been displaced after Israeli authorities demolished homes and other structures in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern West Bank, UN humanitarians said Thursday.

The demolitions took place Tuesday in two Palestinian herding communities and included 20 homes and other facilities, such as a water cistern and solar panels. They followed the demolition of a nearby community on Sept 2, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Another 30 people who live in the area seasonally were affected. Many of the destroyed structures had been built with donor support, OCHA said in its latest news update.

Masafer Yatta is home to about 1,200 Palestinians in 13 communities in the Hebron Hills. Israeli authorities have designated the area as a "firing zone", while humanitarian groups have reported increasing settler violence since settlement outposts were established nearby.

The UN and its humanitarian partners visited the area Wednesday and provided displaced residents with emergency shelter, food, hygiene supplies, baby products and psychosocial support.

OCHA said 1,500 Palestinians had been displaced across the West Bank this year by demolitions, while more than 2,600 others had been displaced by settler violence and related access restrictions.

In Gaza, UN agencies and humanitarian partners were arranging emergency assistance for 30 families whose shelters were destroyed or damaged in an airstrike in the Al Bureij area of Deir al-Balah on Tuesday.

During the first week of September, aid groups assisted more than 100 households affected by 18 incidents across Gaza, including airstrikes, building collapses and domestic fires. Shelter supplies were also distributed to more than 1,800 households, including tents, plastic sheeting, bedding, solar lamps and searchlights, said the UN office.