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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday morning demolished "dozens" of structures in the hamlet of Khirbet Tana northeast of Nablus, including houses, barns, and the hamlet's sole school, a local official told Ma'an.

Munadil Hanani, a member of the local committee of Beit Furik near Nablus, said that Israeli bulldozers under Israeli army escort had stormed Khirbet Tana on Beit Furik's outskirts and demolished every structure there.

These included Khirbet Tana's sole school, Hanani said, a building consisting of movable caravans donated by a European organization.

He said it had been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, and had been attended by 26 local children from grades one to four.
Hanani said Israeli forces also demolished residential homes, dozens of sheep barns, and a number of other agricultural structures in the hamlet. He said that the homes were mostly built from tin, plastic, wood, and stone.

He added that Khirbet Tana's population is around 275. The only structure left untouched was an ancient shrine which serves as a mosque for the hamlet's residents.

Last month, Israeli rights group B'Tselem warned of a "new wave" of Israeli home demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territory, saying the Israeli authorities appeared to "have stepped up efforts to expel Palestinian communities from vast areas in the West Bank."

Israel almost never gives Palestinians legal permission to build in land classified as Area C, and B'Tselem said "residents have no choice but to build their homes without permits and live in constant fear of their homes and livelihoods being destroyed.

"Effectively, the state forces people to subsist in inhuman living conditions, without basic amenities and with no hope or chance for improving the situation."

The rights group went on to say that Israel's home demolitions were aimed at the displacement of Palestinians from Area C, and "reflects de-facto Israeli annexation of Area C."

It added: "Despite significant international attention to this reality, to date, no effective measures have been taken to put an end to it, which effectively means the international community is greenlighting continued human rights violations and the forcible transfer of civilians inside the occupied territory."