Hebron (QNN)- Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday morning demolished eight Palestinian houses in Khirbet Shi’b al-Butum in Masafer Yatta community in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
Local sources said Israeli forces stormed the Masafer Yatta community and demolished eight Palestinian houses in Khirbet Shi’b al-Butum owned by the family of Jabarin whose members are mostly children.
Masafer Yatta is one of the most remote and sparsely populated areas of the occupied West Bank – completely in Area C, and under full Israeli military and civil control.
17 small Palestinian villages are included in the area with a population of approximately 1,100.
Israeli settlers began constructing settlements in the area in the 1980s and there are now more than a dozen settlements and outposts there, as well as Israeli military installations.
Home demolitions, confiscation of the most basic infrastructure, military training exercises, and settler attacks are part of everyday reality in the area, forcing many to live in natural caves, as they vow to stay in Masafer Yatta no matter what the obstacles.
In many Palestinian communities located in Area C of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, Israeli-designated “firing zones” or “closed military zones” are forbidden for Palestinians to live on without permission from the Israeli occupation authorities, which is rarely granted.
There are nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
