Israeli army destroys US-funded public park in West Bank

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2006

NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) — The Israeli army, using a bulldozer, destroyed a US-funded public park, including a children's playground and swimming pool, in a West Bank village, witnesses and officials said.

The bulldozer, protected by a force of Israeli soldiers, demolished the park in Azzun, close to the northern town of Qalqilya, on the grounds that it had been built without permission of the Israeli authorities in the occupied territory.

Construction work on the park had begun in November last year and was almost completed, the mayor of Azzun, Ihssan Abdellatif, told AFP.

He said that the project, which cost around 120,000 dollars, had been financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

"I can confirm that the park that was...