LONDON: Israeli authorities demolished on Wednesday a factory and several industrial facilities in Beit Ula, in the southern West Bank, that employed several Palestinian workers and blacksmiths.
The metal factory owned by Murad Al-Amleh was one of the largest of its kind in Palestine, according to the Wafa news agency. It specialized in metal shaping, ornamentation, and the production of solar panel mounting structures.
Israel’s forces stormed the Al-Mikhd road west of Beit Ula, a town northwest of the Hebron governorate, where they leveled the factory and destroyed equipment, machinery, sheds, merchandise, offices, and other structures over an area of approximately 1.5 acres.
Al-Amleh has incurred financial losses estimated at millions of dollars, according to Wafa.
Since the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has implemented a demolition policy aimed at preventing the merging of Palestinian villages into larger cities and establishing settlements between them.
The demolitions have included commercial facilities and industrial areas under the pretext of charges that residents were building without permits.
In the Gaza Strip, Israel has destroyed nearly 92 percent of the buildings, including hospitals, schools, homes, and commercial facilities, since October 2023, according to UN data.
Several international organizations have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, where the regime has killed over 70,000 people. The International Criminal Court has issued warrants of arrest for several Israeli leaders on charges of committing war crimes.
