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PHOTOS: 1/25/2012 photos show the tin shacks of a Palestinian family which were set up on their land, adjacent to the Jewish settlement of Karmiel (background), in the village of Um al-Kheir in the occupied West Bank region of Hebron. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes and other buildings in the occupied West Bank. AFP PHOTO / HAZEM BADER


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished two houses on Wednesday in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Kheer, south Hebron, a rights group said.

Operation Dove said that two bulldozers arrived in the village at 9.00 a.m. escorted by military jeeps. The two homes did not have demolition orders.

After finishing the demolition, Israeli forces went to the nearby village of Khallet al-Maiyya and confiscated a tractor belonging to villagers. Residents tried to prevent the confiscation by standing between Israeli forces.

Umm al-Kheer is a Bedouin village located in Area C. It was built in 1948 and has faced routine harassment from the nearby Karmel settlement.

In the first six months of 2011, OCHA reports that the Israeli authorities demolished 342 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, including 125 residential "structures", displacing a total of 656 Palestinians, including 351 children -- almost five times as many demolitions and people displaced as during the first half of 2010, according to OCHA.

From 2000 to 2007, the Civil Administration approved 5 percent of the applications for building permits submitted by Palestinians in Area C, Israeli NGO Bimkom said.