Israeli forces raid Palestinian home construction site in Jordan Valley

Israeli forces raided the village of Ras al-Ahmar, said Mutaz Besharat, an official who monitors Israeli violations in the area.

Israeli military force accompanied by staff from the Israeli Civil Administration handed a notice ordering a standstill on the construction of five Palestinian homes and animal barns, under the pretext that they are being built without a permit.

The village is located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli control and Palestinians living in the area complain of not being able to build for their own livelihood.

Between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 per cent of all Palestinian building permit applications across the occupied West Bank were approved by Israel, according to the UN.

The cost of a permit for a single home is estimated to be in the region of $30,000.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a bid to illegally annex the Palestinian territory.

All Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank are classed as illegal under international law, with Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stating that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C. Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA); Area B's administration is controlled by the PA, with Israel controlling security; Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.

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