The Israeli army, Thursday, demolished two commercial structures and seized some of their contents in the village of Hosan, west of Bethlehem, according to local sources.Hassan Hamamreh, mayor of Hosan, told WAFA that an Israeli army force, accompanied by bulldozers, broke into the village and demolished two commercial structures belonging to Ishaq Shousha and Bajes Oudeh, two local Palestinians, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext for the demolition.
The two structures are used as stores to sell construction related material and scrap.
The Israeli military also seized heavy machinery and other equipment available in both stores, including a bagger, forklift trucks and motor homes.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly limited, forcing those living in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between December 30, 2014 and January 12, 2015, Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank and five in East Jerusalem, in addition to two self-demolition incidents, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) affirmed that Israeli authorities do not only demolish Palestinian homes, but also hinder the issuance of any building licenses for Palestinians in Jerusalem and its boundaries.
Al-Maqdisi Institute reported that between the years of 2000 and 2014, Israeli authorities demolished around 1,342 buildings in East Jerusalem (the areas annexed by Israel in 1967), which has resulted in the displacement of approximately 5,760 people.
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Also on Thursday, Israeli settlers shut down the Gush Etzion road junction, south of Bethlehem, obstructing Palestinian traffic movement, security sources said.
A group of Jewish settlers gathered at Gush Etzion junction and closed the main road that connects between Hebron and Bethlehem.
Public transporters and drivers were therefore compelled to use a detour that goes through nearby Beit Fajjar village to reach their intended destinations.
Violence by illegal Jewish settlers is increasingly becoming a daily occurrence. They have repeatedly attacked Palestinian property and worship places and the attacks include; property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.
On July 31, a group of Jewish fanatics killed an 18-month-old Palestinian baby and seriously injured his entire family, during a predawn arson attack which targeted two homes in the village of Douma, south of Nablus.
The baby’s father, Sa’ad Dawabsha, his mother Riham died a few weeks after the incident, while the family’s 4-year-old son Ahmad remains hospitalized with third degree burns.
