RAMALLAH, March 21, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Monday seized stone extraction and making machines and equipment from a Palestinian-owned factory to the east of the village of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, according to a local official source.

Ali Thawabteh, Head of Beit Fajjar municipality, told WAFA that large Israeli military troops, accompanied by heavy machinery, including bulldozers and cranes, broke into Khallet Hajje, to the east of Beit Fajjar, and cordoned off the area, before proceeding to seize the heavy equipment.

The army sized a number of stone-extraction machines, including bulldozers, stone-cutting machines, electrical generators, and others.

Forces reportedly forced workers to lie on the ground and denied them entry into and exit from the area, where dozens of quarries and marble factories are located.

M.N./T.R.