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<div class="ViewDetails_Title"><big><big><b>Israeli bulldozers
demolish Palestinian structures in West Bank</b></big></big><br>
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<div class="ViewDetails_Stamp">Published today (updated)
02/09/2014 14:44<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724813">http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724813</a></small></small></b><br>
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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli bulldozers demolished a dairy factory in
Hebron and Bedouin homes east of Jerusalem early Tuesday, witnesses
told Ma'an.<br>
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Locals said Israeli troops escorted two bulldozers and two
excavators to the al-Rama neighborhood in northern Hebron and
began demolishing the factory, which is owned by Hebron's Islamic
Charitable Society.<br>
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Journalists and bystanders were not allowed to approach the area
which the Israeli army declared a closed military zone during the
demolition, witnesses said.<br>
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Hatim al-Bakri, who chairs the board of directors of the Islamic
Charitable Society, said the damages inflicted a loss of "about 2
million US dollars."<br>
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"Services the Charitable Society offers to orphans in the Hebron
district will be badly affected," al-Bakri said.<br>
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He said Israeli forces had confiscated the factory's belongings
during the month of Ramadan.<br>
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Israel accuses the organization of being tied to Hamas, he added.<br>
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Separately, a Ma'an reporter said Israeli forces demolished
Palestinian homes and structures near Jabaa village east of
Jerusalem.<br>
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Bulldozers demolished five houses, four steel structures, and a
barn that belonged to Bedouin families, <br>
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Local resident Jumaa Suleiman al-Maazi said bulldozers and
military vehicles showed up without warning and demolished his
house, where he said nine people lived.<br>
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Al-Maazi said he had received a demolition notice weeks earlier,
but that there was no official "judicial order."<br>
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Eighteen Bedouin families have lived in the area since 1947, he
said, adding that locals have been continuously threatened by
Israeli settlers nearby.<br>
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A spokeswoman for Israel's civil administration told Ma'an via
email that Israeli forces on Tuesday "carried out the demolition
of an illegal building which was built without the necessary
permits in the Hebron area."<br>
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"The building was demolished after the appropriate enforcement
procedure was completed and a demolition order was delivered."<br>
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The spokeswoman also confirmed the demolitions in Jabaa. She said
five buildings were destroyed by Israeli bulldozers.<br>
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"The buildings were demolished after 45 days were given to the
residents to apply for a building permit. After this wasn't
completed, it was decided to enforce the existing demolition
orders on these buildings."<br>
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Israel rarely grants construction permits to Palestinians in the
West Bank, and regularly demolishes structures built without
permits.<br>
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In May, the EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Israel to
halt home demolitions in Area C of the West Bank, describing such
actions as "forced transfer of population and demolitions of
Palestinian housing and infrastructure."<br>
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Israel has demolished 359 Palestinian structures in the West Bank
so far in 2014, according to the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions.<br>
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Some 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished
by Israel since it occupied the West Bank in 1967.</div>
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