Israeli forces demolish Palestinian properties in Jordan Valley

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished a residential house and four steel agricultural structures in Fasayil al-Wusta in the Jordan Valley Tuesday morning.

Spokesman of the local Campaign to Save the Jordan Valley Fathi Shqeirat told Ma'an that more than fifteen Israeli military vehicles escorted two bulldozers into the neighborhood.

Bulldozers then wrecked a house and two steel structures owned by Mahmoud Ibrahim Abu Kharbeish, in addition to two livestock farms owned by Hasan Muhammad Zayid and his brother Hussein.

The pretext for demolition was that the buildings were constructed "without license" from the Israeli authorities as they are in Area C and thus under Israeli control.

Israel has destroyed more than 604 Palestinian properties in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, displacing 1011 people, according to UNOCHA.

Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli military control, despite being within the Palestinian West Bank.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

By: Aceh Tweets On 08.00

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Israeli troops erect tents near Yabad

JENIN (Ma'an) -- Israeli troops erected three military tents near the main road of the northern West Bank town of Yabad on Tuesday morning.

Eyewitnesses told a Ma'an reporter that they saw three military tents on Palestinian olive trees near the main road between Jenin and Tulkarem.

Large numbers of Israeli soldiers deployed in the area, they added.

Locals said that they believe the Israeli military activity was in response to an attack with stones at an Israeli settler's vehicle traveling on the main road. The vehicle's windshield was smashed as a result of the attack.

In response, Israeli forces had threatened to occupy local houses if stone throwers continue to attack Israeli vehicles.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

By: Aceh Tweets On 07.56

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Child dead in Israeli airstrike after firefight at Gaza border kills

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli air forces bombed the Gaza Strip, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian child and injuring her mother and brother, after an Israeli and a Palestinian were shot dead at the border in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon.

Spokesman for the Gaza ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said that Hala Abu Sbeikha, 3, was killed and her mother and brother injured in an airstrike in Al-Maghazi refugee camp.

Israeli forces also launched an airstrike on Khan Yunis south of the Gaza Strip, firing three missiles at an alleged "Hamas site." It was unclear if there were any casualties in that strike.

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli fire west of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

The attack follows an incident where a Palestinian sniper shot and killed an Israeli man working on the border fence in northern Gaza Strip a few hours earlier.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the man was killed while doing "maintenance" work on the border fence.

Israeli news site Ynet reported that the Israeli man had been working on the border fence when he was shot, and was taken to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba.

He died of his wounds shortly after.

By: Aceh Tweets On 06.52

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