HEBRON, December 24, 2014 (WAFA) – The Israeli army Wednesday demolished a Palestinian-owned poultry barn in the village of Idna, to the west of Hebron, and an animal barn in the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tour, said local sources.

In the Hebron district, south of the West Bank, an Israeli army force, accompanied by heavy machinery, broke into the village of Idna and demolished a 500-square barn used for raising poultry.

The barn, adjacent to the Segregation Wall which allegedly separates the West Bank and Israel for security reasons, is owned by a local resident.

Meanwhile, the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem demolished a Palestinian-owned animal barn in the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur, also under the pretext of construction without a permit.

The barn, used for livestock husbandry, has been demolished and rebuilt four times under the same grounds, said Ramadan Shabaneh, the barn’s owner.

Palestinian-owned animal barns, health facilities, and residential structures have been a frequent target for demolition by Israel during the recent years under the pretext of “construction without a permit.”

Israel hardly ever issues construction permits for Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank, which is under complete Israeli administrative and military control, forcing many of them to embark on construction without obtaining a proper permit.

The Israeli authorities frequently demolish homes in South Hebron Hills and the Jordan Valley communities that are unrecognized by the state. As 31 May 2014, in the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills, the homes of at least 450 Palestinians – including 229 minors –have been demolished more than once, according to the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem.

The latest Israeli demolitions came only one day after the authorities demolished a metal workshop in Dahiyat al-Yasmin, on the outskirts of Ramallah, on “unpermitted construction” grounds.

According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) these demolitions aim to empty the city and West Bank from its indigenous people and replace them with Israeli settlers.

It stated, “The demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures, forced or resulting displacement, and land expropriation are politically and ethnically motivated.

“The goal is to limit development and confine the four million Palestinian residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza to small enclaves, thus effectively foreclosing any viable, contiguous Palestinian state and ensuring Israeli control and the 'Judaization' of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem,” ICAHD explained.

ICAHD said that the total number of structures demolished in 2014 reached 11,056, 359 in the West Bank.

M.N/M.H