BETHLEHEM, Monday, February 07, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces today tore down a retaining wall and a livestock shed in the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem, according to an activist.

Hassan Breijah, a local anti-colonial-settlement activist, said that Israeli soldiers escorted a bulldozer to al-Maniya village, southeast of Bethlehem, where the heavy machinery demolished a retaining wall purportedly for being built without a license.

The “Civil Administration” is the name Israel gives to the body administering its military occupation of the West Bank.

Soldiers in the oxymoronically named Civil Administration determine where Palestinians may live, where and when they may travel (including to other parts of the occupied territories like Gaza and East Jerusalem), whether they can build or expand homes on their own land, whether they own that land at all, whether an Israeli settler can takeover that land among others.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers razed a livestock shed belonging to a herder from Arab al-Rashayida village, east of the city, citing the same flimsy pretext.

Livestock and cattle breeders in the village  are often subjected to military and settlers’ attacks and harassments, including seizing tents, livestock and vehicles as well as imposing fines, as a means to forcefully displace them and make room for the expansion of nearby Israeli colonial settlements.

The occupation authorities employ several means to displace cattle breeders, including the designation of pastures and open spaces as nature reserves.

Designating an area as a nature reserve may convey the impression that Israel wishes to protest the environment. In practice, however, Israeli has been using such designations for advancing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

K.F.