Description

Photo:
Illustrative scene. File. Published by Maan News
___
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces late Wednesday destroyed water pipes and a rural road that serves Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley-area village of Atouf, according to official Palestinian Authority (PA) Wafa news agency.

According to Wafa, Israeli forces accompanied by a bulldozer raided the occupied West Bank village late Wednesday and destroyed the water pipes and the rural road, causing clashes to break out between locals and Israeli forces.

Wafa added that 15 people were treated for unknown injuries following the clashes.

A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territory, told Ma’an they were looking into reports.

The Jordan Valley forms a third of the occupied West Bank, with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C -- under full Israeli military control.

Demolitions of Palestinian infrastructure and residences occur frequently in Area C, with the Jordan Valley’s Bedouin and herding communities being particularly vulnerable to such policies.

Israeli forces confiscated cattle and water tanks, as well as agricultural machinery from Bedouin Palestinians in the so-called firing zone earlier this month.