The Israeli occupation bulldozers on Sunday knocked down five coal factories in Jenin’s southwestern town of Yabad, leaving hundreds of Palestinians unemployed.

The Israeli forces destroyed five factories to manufacture coal and seized hundreds of tons of wood, worth tens of thousands of shekels.

According to local sources, Israeli military vehicles, escorted by a bulldozer, cordoned off Palestinian lands in Yabad and knocked down coal structures and equipment.

The targeted factories are owned by the Palestinian citizens Mansour Abu Bakr, Subhi Zeid, Hafed Abu Bakr, Mansour Abu Bakr, and Bilal Abadi.

Hundreds of Palestinians used to work in Yabad’s charcoal industry. Over the past couple of years, the Israeli forces have destroyed nearly 120 coal structures in favor of the illegal settlement outpost of Doutan.

Head of the Union of Coal Factories Owners and Workers, Kayed Abu Bakr, said in press statements that three bulldozers and seven trucks rolled into the area at the crack of dawn and destroyed five factories before they seized hundreds of tons of wood and transferred them to 1948 occupied territories.

He added that the 30 newly-destroyed coal structures are the sole source of income for over 1,000 families in Yabad.

Shortly before the advent of Ramadan, the Israeli occupation forces knocked down eight structures to manufacture coal in Yabad worth 700,000 shekels each.

Source: PNN