Occupation forces demolished Tuesday morning the mosque of al-Mafqara east of Yatta and south of Hebron for the second time in a row for two year on Tuesday the 4th of December.
Ratib al-Jabour, from Yatta grassroots committee, told the Palestinian news agency (Wafa) that “the occupation forces raided al-Mafqara in the dawn and demolished the mosque which was larger than 120 square meters”.
The mosque consisted of two floors and the people of Khirba prepared the coming floor for becoming a children’s school. Jabour said that the occupation forces raided Khirba in the early morning hours supported by bulldozers and heavy equipment where they first evicted all of the residents before starting the demolition.
Al-Jabour also said that “the population of Khirba is determined to rebuild the mosque, stressing that the land of al-Mafqara is their land, with documents showing their confirming their ownership, pointing out that the occupation forces are trying to displace the Palestinian population in favor of the expanding settlements “Avijal and Ma’aon”.
The president of the supreme council of the Islamic courts, Sheikh Yousef Adeis, told Wafa that “the demolition of the mosque in al-Mafqara is a serious violation of the freedom of worship which are guaranteed by divine laws, a flagrant violation of the human rights charters and international conventions, which asserts that no holy places are to have their sanctity violated.
The occupation forces also uprooted and stole olive trees from the village of Jab’a, south-west of Bethlehem, the same day.
The occupation forces proceeded Tuesday morning with the uprooting of olive trees in the village of Jab’a, and leveled a huge area in the village with bulldozers, with pretexts that are disputed.
The Head of the village council, Naaman Hamdan, added to Wafa that a group of settlers with the help of occupation soldiers and heavy machinery raided the land belonging to heirs of Abu Ibrahim Abd al-Majid Hamdan, and began uprooting 200 olive trees.
The occupation did also continue its violations of international law in Jerusalem, as bulldozers of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem demolished, during noon, a two-story building in the neighborhood at the mount of olives/at-Tur overlooking the old city of Jerusalem. The occupation forces claimed that the residents– owned by Ahmed Abu Hawa- were without a permit given by the occupation.
Abu Hawa tells Wafa that the occupation forces demolished his home consisting of 90 square meters, and that he – to his suffering – must pay fines for the “violations” until 2017.
He’s adding that: “I am paying each month 5000 shekel in fines and taxes, and the occupation authority prosecutes every Palestinian Jerusalemite, but despite their continuous attempts to evict us from our land we will continue to stay and rebuild our homes here”.
Occupation forces demolished homes and agricultural facilities further north in the West Bank, in Khirbet at-Twail , east Nablus, the same day.
Occupation Authorities toppled everything the next day, Wednesday the 5th of December, when they announced that they will start building 3400 housing units in the area “E1”. It also announced that 3600 new housing units are approved in the settlements of “Giv’at Shalom” and “Giv’at Hamatos”. These plans are part of the occupation strategy to judaizing Jerusalem by 2025.