Israeli occupation forces ordered yesterday the demolition of six Palestinian-owned shops in the village of Umm ar-Rihan, to the west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, according to a local source.

Ayed Zaid, a member of the village’s local council, told WAFA that the Israeli occupation army informed the owners that the six shops are going to be demolished within a week, under the pretext of lacking an Israeli construction permit.

Zaid said the area where the shops are located falls under the jurisdiction of the local village council and not the so-called Israeli Civil Administration, and that the owners have obtained the necessary construction permits from the village council.

Meantime, Israeli occupation forces confiscated a bulldozer owned by a Palestinian citizen in the nearby town of Ya’bad.

Amjad Atarta, the town’s mayor, said an Israeli army force confiscated the bulldozer which belongs to Zahran Shayeb Atatra, a citizen of Ya’bad, while he was working inside his own farm near the town.

Israel prevents Palestinians from conducting construction works in parts of the West Bank designated as Area C, which falls under administrative and security control of the Israeli occupation.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all settlement-building activity there illegal.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency