Israel orders demolition of Nablus village

Israeli military forces issued demolition and stop-work orders to Palestinians in the Nablus village of Aqraba on Monday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that Firas Abu Khader was ordered to remove a steel structure, while Bahha Abdul-Ghani was issued orders to destroy a small house.

Another man, Atiyhe Bani Fadl, was ordered to remove an electricity pole.

Israeli forces also issued a stop-work order to a contractor who was refurbishing a street near the village school. Days earlier, Israeli forces confiscated a bulldozer belonging to the contractor.

In December, thirty-six international charities and human rights groups released a statement calling for an immediate end to the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"Since the resumption of the peace process in July, Israel has destroyed 207 Palestinian homes and property in the occupied West Bank, displacing 311 Palestinians, over half of whom are children," a statement from the Association of International Development Agencies said.

"These demolitions, in areas under Israeli control, have driven Palestinian families from their communities and their land, increasing poverty and the need for humanitarian assistance."