A building that serves as a home and restaurant in a village near Bethlehem has been bulldozed by Israeli forces, on a site where houses have been razed twice before.

Israeli authorities gave the building's owner, Ramzi Qaisiyya, a notice saying the building was constructed without the correct permits.

The two earlier buildings on the same site were demolished under the same pretext, the Palestine News Network reported on Monday.

Israel called in reinforcements to Al Makhour, north-west of Beit Jala, after a woman confronted soldiers, said Hassan Brejiya, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in Bethlehem.

The woman clung to the balustrade of the building's top-floor balcony as Israeli soldiers try to force her away from the building.

Then the bulldozers moved in to level the two-storey home.

Mr Brejiya condemned the demolition, accusing Israel of clearing the area to expand its settlement projects.