Awad Rajoub
27 January 2021•Update: 27 January 2021
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Israeli forces demolished a mosque and several structures in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to local residents.
Military bulldozers razed a mosque under construction in Umm Qusah town, south of Hebron, Muhammad Yatimin, the director of a local school near the mosque, told Anadolu Agency.
He said Israeli authorities cited the lack of a construction permit for demolishing the mosque.
“A water well used by a nearby school was also destroyed by Israeli forces,” Yatimin said.
Israeli forces also bulldozed a livestock structure east of Jerusalem, Khamis al-Jahalin, an eyewitness, said. Two other livestock facilities were demolished in Bir al-Maskoub community in east Jerusalem.
Palestinians say all the demolished structures were located in Area C.
Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions -- Area A, B, and C.
Israel prevents Palestinians from conducting construction projects in parts of the West Bank designated as Area C under the agreement, which falls under Israel’s administrative and security control.
Area C is currently home to 300,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Bedouins and herding communities who predominantly live in tents, caravans, and caves.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.
*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara
