Israeli forces demolish Palestinian structures in West Bank, E. Jerusalem

Palestinian sources said on Wednesday that Israeli forces demolished residential and herding structures in several areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A local activist who monitors the settlement activities in Hebron area said Israeli forces, supported by bulldozers, demolished a residential structure and a barracks used as a shelter for herds in the southern Hebron town of Masafer Yatta.

Another residential structure and a herd barn were demolished in Jiftlik and three other structures in Froush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley, as well as a structure under construction in Battir Village, near Bethlehem.

Israeli forces also tore down two houses belonging to Palestinians in East Jerusalem town of Issawiyye earlier on Wednesday.

Israeli sources said the demolitions are all based on the lack of construction permits.

According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli authorities approved only 1.5 percent of building permits applied by Palestinians.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians.

"Israel is seeking to isolate Jerusalem completely and disconnect it from the West Bank, taking advantage of the international silence toward its actions that undermine the two-state solution and the establishment of the state of Palestine,"Ashrawi said in his statements to Xinhua.

Two days ago, Palestinian sources said Israeli army issued an eviction order to the Palestinian Bedouin community in Pope Mountain near Bethany, East Jerusalem, before demolishing their residences.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party said the Israeli plan to evacuate Palestinians from the periphery of East Jerusalem is "a declaration of the death of the two-state solution and waging a comprehensive war against the Palestinian people."

source: xinhua