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SALFIT (Ma'an) -- Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian-owned car wash, two steel structures and a vendor cart in Haris village in the northern occupied West Bank district of Salfit, overnight.

Owner Fadi Salman told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers demolished his car wash, two steel structures and vendor cart, late Sunday night.

Israeli bulldozers also razed a half-a-dunam piece of cemented land in the western side of the village.

Salman added that Israeli forces demolished five commercial structures, three months ago, in the same area, belonging to him and his brother without a prior notice.

Israel uses the pretext of building without a permit to carry out demolitions of Palestinian-owned homes on a regular basis.

Nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits in Area C are denied by the Israeli authorities, forcing communities to build illegally.

The 1995 Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli authorities divided the West Bank into Area A, B, and C. Area A, comprising the populated Palestinian cities and making up 18 percent of the West Bank, would be controlled by the newly formed PA, while Area B remained under Israeli army control with the PA controlling civil affairs. Area C, the majority of the West Bank, however, was placed under full Israeli military control and contains the majority of natural resources and open spaces in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli-controlled land was expected to be gradually transferred to the PA over a five-year period, according to the Oslo agreements. Yet, almost two decades later, the land has remained under Israeli control.

Area C, along with East Jerusalem, has been the site of rapid Israeli settlement expansions in contravention of international law, while Israel’s separation wall has further divided Palestinian communities and has restricted Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from even visiting what was intended to be their capital.