LONDON: Israeli forces destroyed two Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Wednesday, citing failure to obtain permits for building, and uprooted thousands of trees in Hebron.
In the town of Al-Sawahra in Jerusalem Governorate, authorities demolished a two-story house belonging to Mustafa Zaatra. A home that housed seven members of a family in Shuqba, a town to the west of Ramallah, was also destroyed, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
The two-story house in Shuqba, which belonged to Abdul Halim Thabet, had a swimming pool and playground. Forces were said to have fired live ammunition at the homes of local residents during the demolition, but no injuries were reported, according to Wafa.
In April, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that 37 homes, 34 agricultural facilities, and five sources of livelihood had been demolished by Israeli authorities, primarily in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Bethlehem.
In the past three days, Israeli bulldozers have leveled more than 200,000 sq. meters of land for expansion of the Route 60 bypass to serve settlers, uprooting tens of thousands of fruitful grapevines east of Hebron in the process, Wafa reported on Wednesday.
Since the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem began in 1967, Israel has implemented a policy of demolitions designed to prevent the merging of Palestinian towns into larger cities, and to enable the establishment of settlements or military sites between them.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories in cases at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
