The United Nations has demanded that Israel stops the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank following a report on the “dramatic” increase in homes being knocked down.

According to the report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 622 Palestinian homes were demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2011, “forcibly displacing” almost 1,100 people, over half of them children, Agence France Presse (AFP) reports.

Gaylard said that on Thursday he visited the village of Anata near Jerusalem, which has recently seen seven Palestinian homes destroyed.

“He was informed that bulldozers and troops had arrived in the middle of the night of 23 January and that 52 people, including 29 children, had been forced from their homes, which were then completely destroyed,” a UN statement said.

Israeli authorities insist that they only demolish homes built without the required permission. But the Palestinians say they are rarely granted permits, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, Israeli diplomat and former ambassador to Russia Anna Azari told Interfax news agency that Israel is not going to freeze its settlement activities in the West Bank in order to restart talks with the Palestinians. “I would like to remind you that Israel had already frozen settlement activity for 10 months but, nevertheless, Abbas did not come to the negotiations table. So we will not repeat that.”

As tensions between the two sides grow, UN chief Ban Ki-moon is planning to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah next week.

The United Nations on Friday called on Israel to immediately halt the destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank after reporting a dramatic rise in demolitions in the past year.

Israeli forces destroyed 622 Palestinian homes in the West Bank in 2011, "forcibly displacing" almost 1,100 people, over half of them children, according to a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report.

Gaylard said he went on Thursday to the village of Anata near Jerusalem where seven Palestinian homes were demolished this week.

"He was informed that bulldozers and troops had arrived in the middle of the night of 23 January and that 52 people, including 29 children, had been forced from their homes, which were then completely destroyed," said a UN statement.

The operation was carried out Monday night. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) said Israeli forces demolished Beit Arabiya, a family home and "peace centre" at Anata, that has now been destroyed five times since 1994. Israel's administration for the West Bank said.

Although Zabludowicz is himself not an Israeli citizen he is widely seen as a major player in its political life because his 'involvement is extremely deep.' Sami Peretz recalls his personal connection with Israel as one that goes back several decades when his father, Shlomo, a successful arms dealer, worked closely with Shimon Peres to develop the Israeli arms industry. Poju's fortune has been estimated by the Sunday Times at two billion pounds sterling (about 3.12 billion dollars).