RAMALLAH, Wednesday, November 20, 2019 (WAFA) –  Israeli forces  today demolished two Palestinian houses in Shuqba, a village located to the northwest of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Eyewitness confirmed that a sizable Israeli military force escorted two bulldozers into the Shuqba, also written as Shukba, and cordoned the demolition scene off, before the heavy machineries demolished the 500-squate-meter-sized houses purportedly for being built without licenses.

The house owner was identified as Abdul-Jaber al-Masri, who was briefly held along with his brother for protesting the demolition.

Gun-toting soldiers prevented the villagers and news reporters from approaching, opening fire towards them. No injuries were reported though.

The village has a total area of 51,000 dunums, of which 1320 dunums are built-up area. Shuqba‘s population is 4260 people (2017 census).

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion across the West Bank.

Israeli refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

In contrast, Israel much more easily gives the estimated 550,000 Jewish Israeli settlers there building permits and provides them with roads, electricity, water and sewage systems that remain inaccessible to many neighboring Palestinians.

K.F.