Israeli military bulldozers demolished, yesterday, two Palestinian-owned houses. The foundations of a house under construction and water well in Al-Khader, a town to the south of Bethlehem, as well, under the pretext of being built without a permit, according to media and activist sources. Also in the Bethlehem area, Israeli forces shot at a vehicle after it allegedly attempted to run over soldiers.Ahmad Salah, Coordinator of the Committee Against the Apartheid Wall, told WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency that a number of Israeli troops, accompanied by two military bulldozers, stormed Jabal Abu Sud, an area located to the west of the town, where the bulldozers demolished an 80-meter-square house belonging to Ismaʻil Mousa, aged 46.
The structure was constructed from blocks and roofed with tin metal sheeting, and sheltered a family of 12.
Salah added that, after being prevented by soldiers from building, Mousa, having no other place to shelter, had no alternative but to build the shack there.
Al-Khader is a small Palestinian village marked by vineyards, olive and fig trees, with a population somewhere around 1,000 people.
Salah said that bulldozers also demolished a house belonging to one Salim Mousa. The house had been demolished several times, according to WAFA, under the pretext of building without license and for being too close to Israel’s massive apartheid wall.
The 100-meter-square structure sheltered a family of 20.
Also demolished by Israeli bulldozers were the foundations of a locally-owned house under construction, in addition to a well used to obtain drinking water.
Additionally, in Bethelehem, ‘A Palestinian vehicle attempted to run over soldiers near a military post in the area of Bethlehem,’ an Israeli military statement said:
The soldiers ‘responded by opening fire…identifying a hit.’
The soldiers are allegedly still searching for the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Wednesday evening, Israeli forces demolished four buildings and two animal sheds in the Zeef area south of Hebron under the same pretext, according to Ma’an:
The family of Eid Zayid Abu Thaher and his three children, as well as the cattle they own, are now without lodgings, his brother added, with note to the fact that Israeli forces had not informed them of the demolition prior to the raid.
Tuesday, Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian home in the Hebron town of Idhna, Ma’an further reports.
Some 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures have now been demolished by Israel, since it first began its illegal occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
