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TUBAS (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities ordered the demolition of six structures in the northern West Bank on Friday, local officials said.

The orders apply to water wells, caravans and trees planted in the Um Kabish area near Tubas, village council head Abdullah Bisharat said.

Bisharat appealed to the Palestinian leadership and international community to halt Israeli demolition orders, stressing that the area was vital to agriculture in the region.

In the first six months of 2012, Israeli authorities demolished 330 Palestinian buildings in the West Bank, displacing 536 people, half of whom are children, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Richard Falk.

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Village council: Israel confiscating livestock in Tubas

TUBAS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces have been confiscating livestock from shepherds in the Jordan valley and imposing high fines on owners, a local village council said Saturday.

The village council of al-Maleh and al-Madareb told Ma'an that Israeli forces recently confiscated livestock from shepherds and farmers and imposed a fine of 15,000 NIS for them to be returned.

Adel Eilan said that Israeli forces fined him and his brother and then did not return the full number of confiscated livestock.

Israel is taking livestock and equipment from farmers and shepherds to force them to leave the area, the village council added.

An Israeli police spokesperson did not answer calls seeking comment.

The villages of al-Maleh and al-Madareb lie in an area of Israeli control in the Tubas governorate.

In March, Bedouin village council head Aref Daraghmeh said that Israel's Nature Authority was threatening Palestinian residents with fines of more than 5,000 shekels for picking tumbleweed in the area.