Israeli troops raze mosque, buildings in West Bank

Source Agence France Presse

Israeli troops razed a mosque and more than 10 other structures in two areas of the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian 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 levelled "more than 10 buildings used for sheep." The army confirmed knocking down what it described as "eight temporary structures" that had been built inside a military firing zone. "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 COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry unit that 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.