KHIRBET YARZA: Israeli troops razed a mosque and more than 10 other structures in two areas of the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinians sources said.
Most of the demolition activity took place in the village of Khirbet Yarza in the northern Jordan Valley, where residents said troops had razed a very old mosque and its much-larger extension, which was built last year.
They also said troops had leveled "more than 10 buildings used for sheep."
The army confirmed knocking down what it described as "eight temporary structures" which had been built inside a military firing zone.
"During the morning, the security forces and the Civil Administration destroyed eight temporary structures and the frame of another structure, which were built without the required permits inside a firing zone endangering the lives of the residents," said a statement from COGAT, the defence ministry unit which acts as a link between the army and the Palestinians.
At the opposite end of the West Bank, Israeli troops destroyed a building which was home to 18 people in the southern town of Yatta, the family and municipal officials told AFP.
Khirbet Yarza is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control and where all construction and planning issues come under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Civil Administration.
Figures from the Israeli NGO Bimkom show that around 95 percent of applications for a building permit are rejected, with the Civil Administration only granting around 12 permits a year.
UN figures show that in 2009, Israel destroyed 180 Palestinian structures in Area C, including 56 residential buildings.
