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QALQILYA (Ma’an) – Israeli bulldozers early Thursday morning, escorted by Israeli forces, demolished two agricultural structures in the occupied West Bank district of Qalqilya under claims they were built without Israeli-issued building permits.

According to local sources, the Israeli army raided the western district of Qalqilya and demolished a room belonging to Abdulbaset Khayzaran used for agricultural purposes. Israeli forces then headed to the al-Zara district in the south of the city and demolished a room and water tank owned by Hilme Aba also used for agricultural purposes.

The mayor of Qalqilya, meanwhile, condemned the demolitions, calling the move a “savage act” that aims to expel Palestinians from the lands, and demanded that international authorities protect Palestinian farmers from Israeli aggressions.

A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, told Ma’an that Israeli authorities had demolished three “illegal” structures in the Qalqilya area, adding that “the enforcement was carried out after all the necessary warrants were approved.”

The demolitions came just a day after Israeli authorities demolished a car wash in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, while also demolishing several other structures across East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Wadi Joz and Issawiya for building without Israeli-issued licenses.

Demolitions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have seen an unprecedented surge in recent months, with the number of structures demolished in the first half of 2016 already well exceeding the total number of demolitions carried out in all of 2015.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat warned on Monday that any dismantlement of the illegal Israeli outpost Amona in the occupied West Bank would result in the mass demolition of Palestinian homes lacking Israeli-issued building permits in East Jerusalem.

According to AFP, the mayor was quoted as saying that the demolition of Amona -- in line with an Israeli Supreme Court ruling -- “could have implications for similar cases in Jerusalem, where Arabs have illegally built on private or municipal land.”

More than 1,383 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of 2016 as a result of demolitions in the occupied territory, compared to 688 Palestinians displaced over the entirety of 2015, according to UN documentation.

Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in Area C -- the 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli security and civilian control, forcing most Palestinians to build without permits.

All building in Area C, whether by Palestinians or Jewish settlers, comes under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Civil Administration which has full control over all zoning and planning issues.

In practice, almost all Palestinian applications for a building permit are rejected, with the Civil Administration granting only a handful of permits.