Israeli occupation forces demolished for the third time a mosque in the Jordan valley at the time more than 100 olive and fig trees on farmland near Bethlehem were set alight by Jewish settlers

Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday demolished for the third time a mosque in a remote Bedouin village in the Jordan valley at the time more than 100 olive and fig trees on farmland near Bethlehem were set alight by Jewish settlers.

The demolition took place in the village of Khirbet Yarza, some five kilometers east of Tubas in the northeastern corner of the West Bank. The mosque has been demolished twice before, once in February and before that in November 2010, when troops razed the mosque, its much larger extension and various stables.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had destroyed the structure "because it was built without permission in an area that is used for army training." "We decided to immediately destroy this structure so as not to put in danger the lives of residents of the region," the statement said.

In the meantime, Osama Shakarna, head of the Nahhalin village council, told AFP more than 100 olive and fig trees had been destroyed in a fire on the northwest side of the village, which faces Beitar Illit, in a blaze he blamed on local settlers.

"Two settlers from Beitar Illit burned lands in Al-Matabekh area, northwest of the village," he said, adding that an army jeep was present at the time.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the incident, which came a day after the official start of the olive harvest.