Israel issues 10 stop work orders to Palestinian families in West Bank

The Israeli Occupation authorities issued ten stop work orders for the homes being built by a group of Palestinians in the central Occupied West Bank region of Salfit.

According to Wafa news agency, the Israeli Forces handed five stop work orders against incomplete inhabited houses, four others against houses that are under construction and are still in the initial building stage, and one against land which Palestinians farm in.

Neighbourhoods in Salfit have been subject to increasing Israeli theft of land in favour of expanding illegal Israeli settlements.

Local residents told Wafa that the Israeli authorities ordered the halt under the pretext that it did not have building permits.

Palestinians are rarely granted Israeli issued building permits, as the Occupation State tightens its grip over Area C of the Occupied West Bank, which includes 60 per cent of the Occupied Territory.

With growing families, therefore, Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and Jerusalem either have to extend their homes or build new ones without licences. This makes them subject to demolition by the Israelis.

Meanwhile, over 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across Occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in violation of international law.

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