Israeli occupation authorities today demolished five structures in Hares village, west of the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to local sources.
Head of Hares Village Council, Omar Samara, told WAFA that Israeli forces demolished several commercial structures, including a blacksmith shop, a carpentry shop, car repair and wash shops in addition to a vegetable and fruit shop, all owned by siblings Saleh, Fadi and Nadi Saleh.
He said that this was the fourth time for the aforementioned structures to be completely demolished without any prior notice.
Israel demolishes Palestinian houses and structures almost on a daily basis as a means to achieve “demographic control” of the occupied territories.
Israel denies planning permits for Palestinians to build on their own land or to extend existing houses to accommodate natural growth, particularly in Jerusalem and Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.
In contrast, Israel argues that building within existing colonial settlements is necessary to accommodate the “natural growth” of settlers. Therefore, it much more easily gives the estimated 550,000 Jewish Israeli settlers there building permits and provides them with roads, electricity, water and sewage systems that remain inaccessible to many neighboring Palestinians.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency