The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) notified on Sunday of the demolition of a Palestinian house in the Minya area of Sa’ir town northeast of al-Khalil.
Local sources reported that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed on Sunday morning the Mina area and served a demolition notice to a house in the area under the pretext of unlicensed building.
Sa’ir town is located to the northeast of al-Khalil 8 km away from it. The bypass road No. 60 has disconnected it from the cities of Halhul and al-Khalil.
During the period of the Al-Aqsa uprising (Al Aqsa intifada) Sa’ir suffered from the closure of all exits connecting the city to the bypass road as it was closed with earthen berms rocks and cement blocks.
Al-Khalil suffers from the presence of more than fifty settlement outposts in which about thirty thousand Jewish settlers live. These settlers are working to strengthen the overall grip on the city.
The past two years have witnessed the establishment of six new outposts on the confiscated lands of Palestinian citizens in al-Khalil specifically on the lands of Dura Bani Naim Yatta As Samu Dhahiriya and Sa’ir towns.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) had signed an agreement with the IOA in 1997 known as the “Protocol of Redeployment”. According to this protocol the PA agreed to divide the old city of al-Khalil into (h1) and (h2) in which the IOA retains all responsibilities and powers. The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in this area.
The Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein committed a massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994 which led to the death of 29 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds while performing the dawn prayer in the mosque. The Israeli government then divided the mosque between Muslims and Jews and imposed restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed recently that al-Khalil city including the Ibrahimi Mosque would be under the sovereignty of Israel this means that the city would be annexed to Israel.
