HEBRON, Wednesday, July 3, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday morning demolished several Palestinian structures and uprooted forest trees in Khirbet Khashm al-Daraj and Umm al-Kheir villages, east of Yatta city in the southern Hebron hills.

Head of Khashm al-Daraj Council Ibraheem al-Hathaleen told WAFA that several heavily armored Israeli military vehicles stormed the villages with bulldozers and demolished a children’s park and several water wells and uprooted a number of forest trees under the pretext that the area is designated as a firing zone.

Umm al-Khair is the largest Palestinian community in Masafer Yatta,  a collection of almost 19 hamlets which rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood.

Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living - livestock.

It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since 1980s and accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.

Israeli violations against the area include demolition of animal barns, homes and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.

K.F.