BETHLEHEM, Sunday, June 30, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli forces ordered a halt today on works on a road in the village of Battir, near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to local sources.

Tayseer Qattoush, head of the Battir municipality, told WAFA that Israeli forces accompanied by staff of the so-called Israeli Civil Administration raided an outskirt of the village and forced the staff working on the road to stop, under the pretext that the area is classified as Area C.

He said the forces  ordered the Battir municipality to hand over the vehicles working on the road to the Israeli authorities.

Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the West Bank, is under full Israeli security and civilian control. The Palestinians and the international community consider the area as the main land reserve for the future Palestinian state.

Palestinian building and land management are prohibited in Area C unless through a permit given by the Israeli Civil Administration, the name Israel gives to the body administering its military occupation of the West Bank.

K.T/M.N