HEBRON, December 13, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli army Sunday shut down the headquarters of “Youths Against Settlement”, an anti-settlement Palestinian activist group, local sources said.

Essa Amr, coordinator of the initiative, said an Israeli army force handed him an order to shut down the group’s headquarters, located in Tal Rmedeh neighborhood in Hebron, under the pretext that it is located in a closed military zone.

He said that Israeli forces have been banning Palestinians and activists, who do not live in Tal Rmedeh, from entering the area, adding that the purpose of this was to satisfy illegal settlers’ demands; to expand the closed military zone in central Hebron.

As of 2009, a total of 86 Jewish families lived in Hebron. The Palestinian population in H2 area in Hebron, under Israeli military and civil control, has greatly declined due to the impact of Israeli security measures which include extended curfews, strict restrictions on movement, as well as the closure of Palestinian commercial activities near settler areas, topped with settlers’ ongoing harassment.

Palestinians are also barred from using Al-Shuhada Street, a principal commercial road. As a result, about half the Arab shops in H2 area have gone out of business since 1994.

M.N./T.R.