BETHLEHEM, Monday, February 11, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli forces demolished on Monday a house in the village of al-Walaja, to the north of the southern Biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank which Israel has annexed most of, under the pretext of construction without permit as dozens other Palestinian homes await a similar fate, local sources said.

Ibrahim Awadallah, an activist, told WAFA that Israeli forces raided the village and demolished a 100-square meter home owned by Majdi Shweiki under the pretext that it was built without a permit.

Five members of the Shweiki family were displaced as a result, he said.

Awadallah noted that there are 180 homes in the village that have received demolition notices, 40 of which demolition orders have already been issued against them, all under the pretext of building without permit.

Israel has annexed most of the village in recent years, but not its residents, in order to incorporate it into Jerusalem where it intends to build a settlement after emptying it of its Palestinian residents.

K.T./M.K.