JERUSALEM, February 4, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities on Thursday demolished a Palestinian private-owned hall in the town of al-Ezariya, east of Jerusalem, under the pretext of construction without a permit, according to local sources.

According to the UN monitoring group OCHA, over the course of 2015 Israel demolished 521 structures in Area C as well as in East Jerusalem, displacing 636 people.

The vast majority of these demolitions were carried out on the grounds of construction without a permit. Between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 percent of applications for building permits in Area C were approved by Israeli occupation authorities, OCHA adds.

Meanwhile, clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinian youths in the nearby town of Abu Dis, shortly after the troops raided a building the town.

Troops used teargas and toxic gas canisters, stun grenades and firebombs to disperse the protesting youths, but there were no reports of human casualties.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 168 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the beginning of unrest in the occupied Palestinian territories in early October 2015. 

M.N