GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Bulldozers from the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA) affiliated with Hamas in the Gaza Strip demolished May 21 housing units in al-Qaraya al-Badawiya area in northern Gaza. The authority explained in a statement issued on the same day that the housing units “encroach on agricultural lands.”
PLA Director of Public Relations Amal Shamali told Al-Monitor, “These lands are the government’s property. They were rented out to citizens between 2010 and 2012 at a low price of $100 per year for every two dunams of land in order to establish agricultural projects and create new job opportunities for unemployed youths.”