JERICHO, Palestinian Territories: Israeli settlers demolished around 15 Palestinian homes and an animal pen in a village near Jericho in the occupied West Bank, residents and activists told AFP on Wednesday.
The structures, several of them tin shacks, were torn down in Al Duyuk Al Tahta the day before, amid rising settler violence that has repeatedly forced families to flee.
The latest violence came days after Israel´s security cabinet approved measures to tighten control over the West Bank, paving the way for further settlement expansion.
“About 50 settlers arrived, forced everyone out of the houses and began demolishing them. Then they took everything -- even the chickens,” village resident Mustafa Kaabneh, who has lived in the area for nearly two decades, told AFP.
He said most of the settlers were armed and masked and were accompanied by an Israeli army vehicle before returning with a bulldozer.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP´s request for comment.
Another resident, Bassem Kaabneh, 23, said settlers beat women and children, expelled families from their homes and seized personal belongings.
“They told me: ´Enough, you don´t have a home here anymore´”.
Abu Audi Al Rajabi, who owns one of the demolished houses, said no demolition order had been issued.
