Israeli troops fired teargas to disperse protesters in a Palestinian village in the West Bank today as bulldozers demolished about 50 stores which Israel said were built illegally, witnesses said.
Dozens of protesters, including Israeli human rights activists, were forced back after they threw stones at the troops in the village of Nazlet Issa near the city of Tulkarm and just inside the West Bank.
The Israeli civil administration in the West Bank said troops had torn down 21 small shops because they were built without permits.
But a representative of B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group which monitors army activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said at the demolition site that the number of shops that were demolished was between 40 and 50.
The shops are the main source of living for the villagers, who are dependent on Arab Israeli and Jewish customers who come from Israel to do their shopping because prices are cheap.
"Israel is again destroying the Palestinian economy. It is a starvation policy," said Mr Ziad Salem, head of Nazlet Issa municipal council. He also said about 50 small stores had been destroyed.
The shops were part of a market contains 200 stores, all of which are under threat, Palestinian officials said.
AFP