SHOTLIST: WEST BANK, PALESTINE (APR. 23, 2025) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF RUINS LEFT BEHIND / PEOPLE AROUNDWEST BANK, PALESTINE - APR. 23, 2025: Israeli forces demolished a three-story building in Bethlehem city, in the central West Bank on Thursday, Apr. 24, claiming it lacked a construction permit. The building, owned by local resident Muhammad Bekirat, was torn down during a military raid, according to local sources. The demolition is part of a broader pattern of Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, where construction permits are rarely granted to Palestinians. Israel widely uses the pretext of a lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian homes, especially in Area C in the occupied West Bank, which is under Israel’s administrative and security control, and constitutes around 60% of the West Bank. Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions – Area A, B, and C. The Israeli authorities maintain a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers, a practice widely condemned as a form of collective punishment prohibited under international law, as it often displaces entire families. Tension has been high in the West Bank since the Israeli war on Gaza, killing at least 947 Palestinians and injuring over 7,000 others since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.