Israeli army destroys West Bank mosque

A mosque was among several Palestinian structures destroyed by the Israeli army Tuesday in a West Bank village for having been built without permits, concurring sources said. The demolitions came a day after the Israeli supreme court gave the state 90 days to propose "ways to facilitate participation of local Palestinians... in planning processes" in Area C, which is the 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control. "The soldiers came and destroyed a mosque and three homes they said were built without permit in Area C," Ayman Bani Fadel, mayor of Kkirbet Tawil near Nablus, told AFP. The Civil Administration, the military body that administers Area C, confirmed the "demolition of eight buildings that were built illegally inside firing zones." A statement said they took place "after the residents appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice and their appeals were erased." The Israeli military regulates Palestinian construction in Area C and annexed east Jerusalem. Rights groups say it does not issue sufficient permits, forcing residents to build without authorisation. By mid-April Israel had demolished 213 structures and displaced 426 people in east Jerusalem and the West Bank since the beginning of 2014, according to data provided by the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. Source: AFP