Israel to demolish six Palestinian houses in Ramallah

RAMALLAH, October 29, 2019 (WAFA) — Israeli forces today notified six Palestinians of their intention to demolish their houses in Kobar town, to the north of Ramallah city, according to a municipal source.

Mayor of Kobar Izzat Badwan told WAFA that an Israeli military force along with officers of the Israeli Civil Administration, an arm of the Israeli military government, stormed the town in the early morning hours, where they handed six residents notices to demolish their houses under the pretext of being constructed in Area C.

Badwan noted that two of the houses slated for demolition are inhabited, whereas the four others are under construction.

He confirmed that the Israeli military force exited the town and remained deployed at the environs of the town before raiding it once again and agricultural lands.

During ensuing confrontations, soldiers opened fire towards local youngsters who protested the raid, causing some to suffocate from tear gas.

Israel refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in 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 much more easily gives the estimated 550,000 Jewish Israeli settlers building permits and provides them with roads, electricity, water and sewage systems that remain inaccessible to many neighboring Palestinians.

The “Civil Administration” is the name Israel gives to the body administering its military occupation of the West Bank.