WEST BANK, Aug 25 - The Israeli occupation forces served, Tuesday, a demolition order to a citizen’s house in Bethlehem, and 4 stop-work orders in the Al-Marahat area, west of Salfit.

In Bethlehem, Ahmed Hassan Al-Masalma has been served a demolition order of his house in the Al-Nafaq area in Beit Jala.

It is noteworthy that the Al-Nafaq area in Beit Jala has been, recently, subjected to a raging settlement attack, as the occupation forces and settlers razed and stole lands in the area.

In Salfit, the occupation forces stormed the area and handed 4 stop-work notices to farmers in the area, Abdel Karim Fattash, the mayor of Salfit, said.

Fattash clarified that three notices have been given to stop work on land belonging to Mahyoub Al-Zeer, Rayan Al-Jamaini, and Wael Al-Khuffash that was being reclaimed, and the fourth was to stop work on warehouses belonging to Ali Shehadeh Odeh, claiming that they are located in Area C as classified by the Oslo Accord.

The lands of the "Al-Marahat" area are exposed to continuous Israeli attacks and are located near the "Al-Ras" area, which is threatened by settlers’ looting.

It is worth noting that the occupation forces are seeking to seize more lands in Salfit Governorate to complete the settlement project called "Greater Ariel", by linking all settlement outposts in the area and isolating the governorates from each other.

It is noteworthy that the settlement of "Ariel", which extends for several kilometers on a high hill, is expanding at the expense of Palestinian lands by three times its current area.

There are 18 Palestinian communities in Salfit compared to 24 settlements, ranging from residential and industrial, and the percentage of land allocated for Palestinian construction in the governorate is only about 6% of the total area, compared to 9% for settlers.

The occupation is expanding the settlements and linking them to water, electricity, and sewer systems to form a settlement bloc that controls an area of ​​up to 70% of Salfit lands.

Salfit is the second governorate after Jerusalem in terms of settlement targeting, intending to separate the north of the West Bank from its south and control the groundwater in the governorate.