Israel has escalated the scale of demolitions of Palestinian houses and facilities in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Quds Press reported yesterday.

According to Quds Press, Israeli forces demolished the foundation of Umul-Qura Mosque in the Sur Baher neighbourhood, south of Jerusalem. Palestinians began building the mosque a couple of months ago.

The Israeli occupation also demolished a number of houses and commercial facilities in the Maghazi Compound, near the neighbourhood of Jaba, north of Jerusalem.

In Silwan, south of Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation demolished a shop and a number of agricultural facilities under the pretext that they were built without licences.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation demolished a house for the second time in the town of Umm Al-Khair in the West Bank city of Hebron. A lack of building consent was also blamed for the demolition.

Israeli authorities handed over stop-work orders to a number of Palestinian house owners in the neighbourhood of Beit Amer in the north of Hebron due to a lack of necessary permissions.