Israeli occupation forces Wednesday morning tore down two inhabited Palestinian houses and a shack in Masafer Yatta town in the southern Hebron hills, according to Wafa news agency.

Coordinator for the Anti-Wall and Settlement Committee Rateb al-Jabour said that Israeli forces escorted bulldozers into Khirbet Jinba, one of the cluster of hamlets making up Masafer Yatta, where the heavy machineries knocked down the two inhabited houses, each occupying an area of 60 square meters, purportedly for being built without a rarely-issued Israeli permit.

The demolished houses belonged to Mahmoud Rab‘i, and his brother, Fadel, and housed their families comprising 16 members, who are now homeless.

Meanwhile, the bulldozers proceeded to demolish a livestock shack belonging to two bothers citing the same pretext.

Masafer Yatta is a collection of almost 19 hamlets which rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood.

Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living - livestock.

It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since 1980s and accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.

Israeli violations against the area include demolition of animal barns, homes and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.

Israel refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in Area C, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

In contrast, Israel much more easily gives the estimated 550,000 Jewish Israeli settlers there building permits and provides them with roads, electricity, water and sewage systems that remain inaccessible to many neighboring Palestinians.