SALFIT (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Monday demolished a home under construction in the village of Deir Ballut in western Salfit and delivered demolition orders in western Nablus, locals said.
Dawood Abdullah, a local activist, told Ma’an that large numbers of Israeli troops escorted two bulldozers into Deir Ballut in the early hours of Monday and immediately started to tear down an incomplete house belonging to Adnan Abdullah.The activist said that the home, which was in an area known locally as Khallat Qaswal, was one of 60 houses in the village located in land classified as Area C.Adnan Abdullah, the owner of the house, told Ma’an that the Israeli authorities issued a demolition order three years ago.He said: “Since then, I have been trying to do anything to cancel this decision, but nothing worked out.”He said that the last demolition notice came was delivered two months ago.Separately, locals in western Nablus said that Israeli forces on Monday issued a number of demolition notices to Palestinian families living near an Israeli military checkpoint known as al-Hamra.The notices told the families to evacuate their homes in 10 days, after which point the buildings would be demolished.The owners of the houses were identified as Hayel Bsharat and Muhammad Hayel Bsharat. Under the Oslo Accords, building permits must be approved by the Israeli Civil Administration for construction to take place in Area C.As a result of rarely-approved permits, however, Palestinian residents are often forced to build structures without permits, which are liable to be torn down later by Israeli forces.Last year Israel demolished 601 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 1,215 people.The UN said it was the highest annual number of people affected by the policy since it began keeping records in 2008.
Occupied: Headlines From Palestine 