gelatik
04.02.03, 13:33
Citing lack of building permits, Israeli occupation forces razed on Sunday,
February 2, 28 houses belonging to Palestinian residents in the West Bank
city of al-Khalil (Hebron).
This is the biggest demolition of private Palestinian buildings since January
21 when 62 shops built without planning permission were leveled down.
Israeli bulldozers, backed up by a large number of forces, knocked down the
houses since early hours of the day, leaving dozens of their inhabitants
homeless, Palestinian sources in the city said.
The demolitions came as part of the wide-scale incursion Hot Winter, a move
aimed at cracking down on Palestinian fighters allegedly responsible for
killing more than 20 Israeli soldiers and settlers in recent months.
"The Israeli army had cooked up pretexts to destroy the houses of the
Palestinians who are now left homeless" complained Al-Khalil Mayor Mustafa Al-
Natsha to IslamOnline, against a background of rough cold conditions gripping
the Palestinian areas.
"The unrelenting four-day Israeli blockade and tight curfew of the city
doubled the suffering of all of the 160,000 inhabitants, most of them began
complaining of lack of milk for their babies and other food supplies" he
lamented.
