According to local sources, Israeli forces demolished five Palestinian-owned stores in the town of Hezma, just northeast of Jerusalem, on Sunday. Soldiers also reportedly assaulted two young Palestinian women during an incursion in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.WAFA reports that an Israeli army team broke into the town, Sunday morning, and demolished five tinplate-surfaced stores, including a stone-cutting workshop, under the pretext of construction without a permit.
The stores are located in Area C, under complete Israeli military and administrative control.
The Israeli army and police have repeatedly vandalized residencies in Area C under the pretext of construction without permission.
Despite filing applications and constantly trying to build houses following the legal measures, Palestinians in the West Bank, especially East Jerusalem, are rarely granted construction permits by Israeli occupation authorities.
Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem are living in a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied citizenship and classified only as ‘residents’ whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city.
They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and remain unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s apartheid wall.
In 2014 alone, Israeli authorities demolished a total of 97 buildings in East Jerusalem, while demolished five others in 2015, under the pretext of building without a construction permit, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian (OCHA).
Also on Sunday, Israeli soldiers assaulted two young Palestinian women during an incursion in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, according to local sources.
Mohammad Awad, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the town, said an Israeli army force stormed the house of Khalil Abu-Dayyeh, a local Palestinian, and brutally assaulted his daughter, 20-year-old Nabila, leaving bruises throughout her body.
While the army assaulted and pepper sprayed 22-year-old Jamila Abu-Dayyeh, clashes erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths in the same town. The soldiers used teargas canisters and rubber-coated bullets, causing multiple cases of suffocation by teargas inhalation.
Incidents of violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, including children and women, have regularly been reported, either during Israeli arrest operations, home searches and raids, violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations, or while serving jail sentences in Israeli jails.
Many Palestinians have been injured or shot dead on sight for allegedly assaulting Israeli soldiers despite the fact they usually pose no threat to the lives of soldiers.
On July 23, Israeli army and undercover forces raided a house in Beit Ummar and shot dead an unarmed Palestinian elderly, 53-year-old Falah Abu-Maria, and injured his two sons, Mohammad and Ahmed, with live ammunition.
See also: Child Seriously Injured, Seven Kidnapped In Jerusalem
