BETHLEHEM, Tuesday, June 22, 2021 (WAFA) – The Israeli occupation authorities today issued demolition orders a house under construction and a shack in Battir village, west of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to local sources.

Mohammad al-Showli, a villager, told WAFA that the Israeli forces raided the area of al-Shurafa, located close to the main entrance to Bethlehem’s western rural countryside, and handed him a notice of demolition against his 100-square-meter one-story house.

The soldiers also handed al-Showli’s cousin a notice of demolition against his livestock shack.

Al-Shurafa has been subjected to several Israeli abuses that aim to prevent Palestinians from building and constructing.

Battir, six kilometers west of Bethlehem, is on the UNESCO world heritage list due to its ancient terraces and Roman-era irrigation system which is still used by villagers to irrigate their crops.

It is home to a Roman spring and bath, an eco-museum and some hiking trails. Its old town is known as the Seven Widows Quarter.

K.F.