RAMALLAH, April 28, 2015 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Tuesday demolished a Palestinian private-owned house in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah, according to witnesses.

Ihsan Tamimi, a local resident, told WAFA that an Israeli army force broke into the village at dawn and demolished the house of Mohammad Mahmoud Tamimi, a Palestinian-American who resides abroad.

The house was built before the 1967 war and is located in Area C, under full ?Israeli control; where Israeli authorities rarely issues construction permits for Palestinians.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between December 30, 2014 and January 12, 2015, the Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank and five in East Jerusalem, in addition to two self demolition incidents, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits.

Having no other choice, many Palestinians are forced to build without permits to be able to provide a shelter for themselves and their families, risking in the process having their buildings demolished. 

The village of Nabi Saleh is a scene of repeated clashes between Israeli forces and the villagers; Israel suppresses the weekly peaceful rallies organized by the villagers and foreign activists to protest Israel's illegal ongoing land annexation.

Many injuries among locals were reported during Israel's violent suppression of the weekly protests.

In December 2011, Mustafa Tamimi, 27, who was participating in the peaceful weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, was shot in the face at close range by a tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier. Tamimi died of his wounds.

A statement by Stop the Wall Campaign said residents of Nabi Saleh were marking the second anniversary of the start the popular resistance when Tamimi was shot in the face. This occurred while the UN Special Rapporteur for the Freedom of Assembly was visiting the village.

It said Tamimi’s face was split from the impact of the gas bomb, losing a large amount of blood before being transferred by car to hospital in Ramallah, 30 kilometers away. The ambulance was stopped at the Nabi Saleh checkpoint by the occupation forces for 30 minutes. Subsequently he was flown for treatment at an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv.

Nabi Saleh, which has a population of approximately 500 people, is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah. The Israeli settlement of Halamish (also known as Neveh Tzuf) was established on lands belonging to the villages of Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham in 1976.

In the summer of 2008, Halamish settlers seized control of a number springs, all of which were located on private Palestinian land belonging to residents of Nabi Saleh. In December 2009, the village began weekly demonstrations in opposition to the annexing of the fresh water springs and village land.

Since Nabi Saleh began its demonstrations, the Israeli military has brutally sought to repress the protests, arresting villagers, including children and women.

M.N./T.R.