NABLUS, August 8, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli army on Monday compelled a Palestinian villager from the village of Sebastia, north of Nablus in the West Bank, to demolish two animal barns of his own, under the pretext of construction without a permit, according to local sources.

Abdullah Makhamreh, owner of the two barns, told WAFA that the Israeli army broke into the village on Sunday afternoon, and handed him a notification that orders him to demolish the said structures before 5:00 AM Monday.

He said otherwise, he would have incurred some $4,000 in compensation for the Israeli military demolishing the said structures on its own.

Makhamreh added that he was forced to take out some 130 sheep of his own from the two animal barns. He said he has incurred some $13,000 due to the demolition of the two animal barns.

The village is located in Area C of the West Bank, under complete Israeli civil and military control.

Issuance of construction permits by Israeli authorities for Palestinians in Area C, unlike for Israeli settlers, requires unreasonable fees that most Palestinians cannot afford to pay.

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.

The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) explains in a special report that “in almost all cases Palestinians have no choice but to build ‘illegally’ as permits are almost impossible to obtain.”

“Many Palestinians have suffered multiple displacements, having lost their homes and livelihoods more than once. Forced displacement has a series of immediate and longer-term physical, socio-economic and psycho-social impacts on Palestinian families.”

M.N