BETHLEHEM, April 12, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished three homes in the village of al-Waljeh, to the northwest of Bethlehem, under the pretext of construction without a permit, according to local sources.

Head of al-Waljeh village council, Abder-Rahman Abuttin, told WAFA that an Israeli military force accompanied by bulldozers broke into the village, before they proceeded to demolish the three homes, which are currently under construction, under the pretext of being constructed without an Israeli permit.

The three homes belong to Maher Abu Kheyara, Essa Qantar, and Obaida Muhtasem, three Palestinian locals.

Abuttin added that a week ago Israeli authorities handed multiple demolition notices and stop-construction orders to local Palestinians, under the pretext that their homes were located within the municipal boundaries of occupied Jerusalem.

Over the course of 2015, Israel demolished 521 structures in Area C as well as in East Jerusalem, displacing 636 people, according to the UN monitoring group OCHA.

The vast majority of these demolitions were carried out on the grounds of construction without a permit. Between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 percent of applications for building permits in Area C were approved by Israeli occupation authorities, OCHA adds.

M.N