On Tuesday morning Israeli forces leveled a house in the village of Halhul north of Hebron city in the southern part of the West Bank. Clashes erupted between the Israeli troops and local residents, injuring ten.
Two army bulldozers protected by a massive force invaded the village of Halhul. Israeli soldiers surrounded the village then bulldozers started to level the house of Ibraheem Abu Yousif.
Israeli troops forced Abu Yousif and his family off their premises then demolished the house. The house is a two storey building and is a home to 14 people. According to local sources the soldiers did not give the family time to remove their belongings from the building.
The Abu Yousif family received a military order to demolish their home last year and the family took the case to court and won, According to the Israeli court, the military was not permitted to demolish the house.
The Israeli army also threatened to demolish a number of neighboring homes in the village, which all won a case against the army to not demolish their homes. The Israeli army stated that all the houses are built without building permits.
During the demolition process, local residents gathered near Abu Yousif’s house and tried to stop the army from demolishing it. Soldiers fired tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated bullets at the crowd. Ten civilians were injured, medical sources reported. Local youths responded with stones.
Medical sources stated that three of the injured were admitted to hospital. They were: Mustafa Ajarmah, 16, he sustained wounds in his pelvis, Yousif Zamara, 28, he was hit in his leg, and Amier Abu Yousif, 30, he was also hit in the leg. The other seven were treated on the spot for gas inhalation, the medical sources concluded.
Soldiers left the village shortly after leveling the home of Abu Yousif’s family.
In the city of Hebron and nearby villages there are about a dozen settlers’ posts illegally built under the Israeli law; however the Israeli army keeps continues providing them with services and protection.
