LONDON: Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank demolished three houses in Palestinian towns southeast of Bethlehem city on Wednesday.
Two of the properties were two-story buildings in Nahalin. They were owned by the Najajreh and Awad families, who had evacuated their homes a week earlier in anticipation of demolition, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. The reason given for knocking them down was that they were built without permits.
Another 14 homes are slated for demolition by Israel in Nahalin, where 91 percent of the territory falls under full Israeli security and civilian control as a result of peace agreements from the 1990s.
The other house knocked down on Wednesday a 150 sq. meter, single-story property in Al-Minya belonging to the Kawazbeh family. It was razed as Israeli forces deployed in the village.
In July, Israeli authorities demolished 88 homes, 63 agricultural structures, and 11 business premises across the occupied West Bank, monitoring organizations said, mostly in Qalqiliya, Hebron, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Bethlehem.
Israel has implemented a policy of demolitions since the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967. Critics say it is carried out under the pretext that construction took place without proper permits, with the aim of preventing the merging of Palestinian towns into larger cities, while Israeli authorities establish settlements or military sites between them. The destroyed properties have included commercial facilities and industrial sites.
