HEBRON, April 6, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished six homes and animal barns in Kherbet Um al-Kheir, a small village to the south of Hebron, according to local sources.
Rateb Jabour, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Commission in Hebron, told WAFA that Israeli troops stormed the village in the predawn hours, before they demolished the six structures, mainly built with rudimentary objects.
The village is one of about 19 villages of Masafer Yatta area, whose inhabitants, mostly Bedouins, rely heavily on animal husbandry as their main source of livelihood.
Located in Area C of the West Bank under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subject to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and army soldiers targeting their main source of living: livestock.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly ed, forcing Palestinians residing in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit.
Over the course of 2015, Israel demolished 521 structures in Area C as well as in East Jerusalem, displacing 636 people, according to the UN monitoring group OCHA.
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.
M.N
