Israeli forces demolish five Palestinian businesses in West Bank

Israeli forces accompanied by heavy machinery raided the Haska Road area northwest of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, demolishing five Palestinian-owned commercial businesses, local sources said. Israeli forces routinely demolish Palestinian homes and structures on the grounds that they lack construction permits. Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups say such permits are rarely granted to Palestinians, while Israeli settlement construction continues to receive approvals.

Nearly 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and around 360 outposts across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures. Palestinian estimates showed that Israeli occupiers carried out 1,369 attacks across the occupied West Bank in October, up 111.6% from 647 attacks in September. In June, 14 UN special rapporteurs warned that the sharp rise in violence by Israeli occupiers, with state support and complicity, posed an existential threat to Palestinian communities, Middle East Monitor reported.