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SALFIT (Ma'an) -- The Israeli authorities delivered a stop-construction notice to several water wells in the al-Zawiya town west of the northern occupied West Bank city of Salfit, on Wednesday.

Al-Zawiya’s mayor Naim Shqeir told Ma’an that the Israeli authorities placed the notices near five water wells in the western area of the town.

Shqeir identified owners of the wells as Anan al-Ashqar, Jamal Musleh, Imaq Shaqour, Ghassan Amir and Youssef Musleh.

The wells are being built under a project by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees to support the steadfastness of Palestinian farmers in Area C.

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.