HEBRON, Israeli forces today delivered demolition orders against eight Palestinian structures in Jawaya village, east of Yatta city in the southern hebron district, according to local sources.

Coordinator of the Popular anti-Wall and Settlement Committees in Southern Hebron, Rateb Jbour, said that Israeli forces barged their way into the village and handed six villagers orders to demolish their property.

Among the property slated for demolition are three houses, including a two-storey houses, an agricultural room, a shed besides to four rainwater collection wells.

The soldiers also delivered demolition orders against five Palestinian houses, including some built using brick and tin sheets, to the east of Yatta city, a step that would displace three families comprising some 40 members.

Israel demolishes Palestinian houses and structures almost on a daily basis as a means to achieve “demographic control” of the occupied territories, a practice described by Palestinians and human rights activists as a form of ethnic cleansing.

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 over 700,000 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