An-Najah News - According to local activist Ahmad Salah Israeli occupation authorities notified yesterday evening to stop the construction work on Palestinian-owned agricultural sheds in Bethlehem.

Israel denies planning permits for Palestinians to build on their own land or to extend existing houses to accommodate natural growth, particularly in Jerusalem and Area C.

Area C constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule.

The residents are forced  to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

In contrast, Israel argues that building within existing colonial settlements is necessary to accommodate the “natural growth” of settlers and provides them with roads, electricity, water, and sewage systems.