Israeli occupation forces start to demolish Palestinian village

Reports from the occupied West Bank confirm that Israeli occupation forces have started to demolish a large part of the village of Al-Akba. According to Sami Sadeq, the president of the village council, “A significant number of troops surrounded the village and closed the entrances. They had huge bulldozers which they used to demolish houses and barns in the eastern part of the village; they also cleared some roads which were constructed recently to serve the villagers’ needs.”

---

Mr. Sadek appealed to foreign consuls who visited to intervene to prevent the Israelis from implementing their plan to demolish more or less the whole village. He referred to the proposal by Israel’s “Sub-Commission for Construction and Organisation” to knock-down the homes of 95% of the village population on the pretext that the necessary building permits are not in place. Al-Akba is in so-called Area C, which is subject to Israel’s security and civilian control.

The Israeli army uses the area in which the village is located to conduct military exercises. A number of villagers have been killed as a direct result of such activity by the Israel Defence Forces.