Israeli army demolishes several Palestinian structures in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army demolished Palestinian structures and assaulted several residents in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, local media reported.

Military bulldozers brought down three homes belonging to two Palestinian families in the town of Barta'a, southwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank, citing a lack of building permits, the official news agency Wafa said.

In the nearby Ya'bad town, Israeli forces assaulted several young men after raiding the area and storming several shops there, the outlet said.

In another development, four Palestinians were injured after they were assaulted by Israeli forces during demolition operations in Silwan town in occupied West Bank, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

According to the Wadi Hilwah Information Center, Israeli forces raided the town and demolished walls surrounding houses in the al-Bustan neighborhood.

A building material store was also razed by Israeli forces in the Bir Ayoub neighborhood in the same town.

Two Palestinians were detained during the raid.

Israeli authorities usually cite the lack of building permits for demolishing Palestinian structures in the West Bank, particularly in Area C, which constitutes 60% of the occupied territory.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel has carried out 1,014 demolitions across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023. These demolitions have affected 3,679 structures, including 1,288 inhabited homes, 244 uninhabited homes, and 962 agricultural facilities.

The demolitions came two days after Israel's Security Cabinet approved a series of decisions on Sunday allowing Israelis to purchase land in the occupied West Bank, repealing Jordanian-era laws that have governed land ownership since 1967, and extending Israeli authority into areas under Palestinian civil control.

According to Israel's public broadcaster KAN, the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel's civil administration.

Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank since launching its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, including killings, arrests, forced displacement and settlement expansion, a trajectory Palestinians say is aimed at paving the way for the formal annexation of the occupied territory.

At least 1,112 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, about 11,500 wounded, and more than 21,000 detained during that period, according to Palestinian estimates.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.