The Israeli army began, on Monday morning, the demolition of twenty Palestinian homes in the town of Barta’a, southwest of Jenin in the occupied West Bank’s northern part, after an Israeli occupation court approved the destruction orders.
Barta’a Mayor Ghassan Qabaha said the court issued the demolition order on Sunday targeting twenty homes in the town’s southern area.
He added that Israeli bulldozers and military units arrived at the town’s entrance early Monday in preparation for carrying out the demolitions.
Qabaha noted that the municipality and the affected families submitted an appeal earlier in the day, but the court swiftly rejected it and upheld the demolition orders for all twenty homes.
He explained that eight homes had already been emptied of their belongings, while residents of the remaining homes refused to remove their property and insisted on staying inside despite the imminent threat of demolition.
At the time of this report, the army had already begun demolishing several of the targeted homes.
The twenty homes shelter approximately one hundred residents. Their destruction would leave the families displaced and without shelter.
As Israeli demolition crews advanced into the area, residents climbed onto the roofs of the threatened homes in an attempt to prevent the demolitions.
