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Photos by Amer Aruri/ B'Tselem)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Monday demolished at least 25 structures, including several homes, belonging to Palestinian Bedouins near the village of Jaba northeast of Jerusalem on Monday morning, an Israeli human rights group said.

B'Tselem said that Israeli forces arrived at the al-Khdeirat Bedouin community and demolished 25 structures which serve 11 families for residential and other purposes.

"Around 100 persons were left homeless, including about 70 minors, some of whom began the school year a few days ago," the group said.

Israeli forces claimed the structures had been constructed without the necessary permits, a press statement issued by the Palestinian committee against the wall and settlements said.

It added that some of the structures were built in 1975 and 1976.
"These demolitions take part in the context of efforts by the military and the Civil Administration to push Palestinian communities out of Area C," B'Tselem said.

"These expulsion plans violate international humanitarian law, which prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons, unless carried out for their own protection or for an imperative military need."
Under the Oslo Accords, building permits must be approved by the Israeli Civil Administration for Palestinians to build in Area C.
As a result of rarely-approved permits, however, Palestinian residents are often forced to build structures without permits, which are liable to be torn down later by Israeli forces.

In the week Aug. 18-24, Israeli forces demolished 42 Palestinian structures in the occupied Palestinian territory, displacing 54 people, including 33 children, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"This is the largest wave of demolitions in a single week in six months," the UN body said in its weekly report.

It added: "So far in 2015, a total of 417 structures have been demolished by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing a total of 495 Palestinians including 277 children."

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions reports that Israel has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967.