RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army demolished seven Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday amid military escalation in the occupied territory.

Army forces, escorted by military bulldozers, raided the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit city, and razed a house for alleged lack of a building permit, witnesses said.

Six more homes were brought down in the Masafer Yatta area near Hebron in the southern West Bank for lacking construction permits, local activist Fuad al-Amour.

The demolitions came amid Israeli raids in the northern West Bank that have killed more than 55 Palestinians and displaced thousands since Jan. 21.

According to official figures, the Israeli army demolished 126 Palestinian structures in the West Bank last month, including 74 inhabited homes and 29 agricultural facilities.

Israel widely uses the pretext of a lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian homes, especially in Area C in the occupied West Bank, which constitutes around 60% of its space.

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions – Area A, B, and C.

Area C is under Israel’s administrative and security control until a final status agreement is reached with the Palestinians.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 916 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry.