10 may 2015
Israel’s treatment of Khirbet Susiya and its residents illustrates its systemic use of planning laws to prevent Palestinians in Area C, which is under full Israeli control, from construction and development that meet their needs, B'Tselem organization said in a report issued on Sunday.
Most Palestinians in the area live in villages where the Israeli authorities have refused to draw up master plans and connect them to water and power supplies, under various pretexts. With no other choice, the residents eventually build homes without permits and subsequently live under constant threat of demolition and expulsion, according to the report.
"This policy is intended to serve the goal, explicitly declared by Israeli officials in the past, of taking over land in the southern Hebron hills in order to formally annex it to Israel in a permanent-status agreement with the Palestinians, and annex it de facto until such a time."
In implementing this policy, Israel is acting in contradiction to its obligation to care for the needs of West Bank residents as the occupying power there. This is a grave breach of the prohibition in international humanitarian law on forced transfer of residents of an occupied territory, the Israeli leftist organization explained.
The report pointed out that Israel has been abusing the residents of Khirbet Susiya for many years: the army and the Civil Administration have repeatedly removed the residents from their homes, in which they have lived since before 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank.
The authorities also systematically refrain from protecting the residents of Khirbet Susiya from settlers who attack them or vandalize their property, and restrict their free access to the main town in the district, Yatta, it added.
Over the years, the villagers petitioned the High Court of Justice several times against demolition of their homes, requesting that they be permitted to build legally. However, the Court repeatedly adopted formalistic arguments and refused to force the authorities to fulfill their obligations, which include drawing up a master plan for the village and not demolishing homes there, so that the residents can continue to live in the place in reasonable conditions.
In contrast to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Palestinian residents there are considered “protected persons” under international humanitarian law. The violation of their rights is especially blatant given the active support provided by Israeli authorities to construction and expansion of settlements in the area, even when they are established in contravention of Israeli law.
Most Palestinians in the area live in villages where the Israeli authorities have refused to draw up master plans and connect them to water and power supplies, under various pretexts. With no other choice, the residents eventually build homes without permits and subsequently live under constant threat of demolition and expulsion, according to the report.
"This policy is intended to serve the goal, explicitly declared by Israeli officials in the past, of taking over land in the southern Hebron hills in order to formally annex it to Israel in a permanent-status agreement with the Palestinians, and annex it de facto until such a time."
In implementing this policy, Israel is acting in contradiction to its obligation to care for the needs of West Bank residents as the occupying power there. This is a grave breach of the prohibition in international humanitarian law on forced transfer of residents of an occupied territory, the Israeli leftist organization explained.
The report pointed out that Israel has been abusing the residents of Khirbet Susiya for many years: the army and the Civil Administration have repeatedly removed the residents from their homes, in which they have lived since before 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank.
The authorities also systematically refrain from protecting the residents of Khirbet Susiya from settlers who attack them or vandalize their property, and restrict their free access to the main town in the district, Yatta, it added.
Over the years, the villagers petitioned the High Court of Justice several times against demolition of their homes, requesting that they be permitted to build legally. However, the Court repeatedly adopted formalistic arguments and refused to force the authorities to fulfill their obligations, which include drawing up a master plan for the village and not demolishing homes there, so that the residents can continue to live in the place in reasonable conditions.
In contrast to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Palestinian residents there are considered “protected persons” under international humanitarian law. The violation of their rights is especially blatant given the active support provided by Israeli authorities to construction and expansion of settlements in the area, even when they are established in contravention of Israeli law.
Israeli settlement map
The English-language daily Jerusalem Post reports, based on unofficial copies of the Likud-Jewish Home coalition agreement, that within one month a professional team will be created to formulate a plan for the authorisation of settlement construction in the West Bank – both settlement outposts and building within recognised settlements - that were built “without the involvement of the authorities”, i.e. without the requisite permits.
Settlement outposts appeared following the 1993 Oslo Accord, in which the Israeli government committed itself to freeze the building of new settlements. Outposts, while not officially authorised by the government as they are essentially new settlements, are greatly by Israeli public authorities with infrastructure, resources and defense, according to the 2005 Sasson Report, commissioned by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
In the long-forgotten 2003 Road Map to Peace, Israel committed itself to removing all settlement outposts created after March 2001.
Some 100 settlement outposts exist today, according to estimates by the Israeli settlement watch group Peace Now.
Israeli policy toward Palestinian-owned homes built without permits is the exact opposite. Hundreds of Palestinian-owned homes and structures in the West Bank's Area C, under full Israeli military and civil control, are demolished yearly due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. While Israel's restrictive planning system makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits, the new government is planning to retroactively approve settlement building that violated even Israeli law, in addition to international law.
In 2013, 565 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, including 208 residential structures, were demolished due to lack of Israeli-issued permits, displacing 805 people, almost half of them children.
Connie Hackbarth is editor of alternativenews.org
The English-language daily Jerusalem Post reports, based on unofficial copies of the Likud-Jewish Home coalition agreement, that within one month a professional team will be created to formulate a plan for the authorisation of settlement construction in the West Bank – both settlement outposts and building within recognised settlements - that were built “without the involvement of the authorities”, i.e. without the requisite permits.
Settlement outposts appeared following the 1993 Oslo Accord, in which the Israeli government committed itself to freeze the building of new settlements. Outposts, while not officially authorised by the government as they are essentially new settlements, are greatly by Israeli public authorities with infrastructure, resources and defense, according to the 2005 Sasson Report, commissioned by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
In the long-forgotten 2003 Road Map to Peace, Israel committed itself to removing all settlement outposts created after March 2001.
Some 100 settlement outposts exist today, according to estimates by the Israeli settlement watch group Peace Now.
Israeli policy toward Palestinian-owned homes built without permits is the exact opposite. Hundreds of Palestinian-owned homes and structures in the West Bank's Area C, under full Israeli military and civil control, are demolished yearly due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. While Israel's restrictive planning system makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits, the new government is planning to retroactively approve settlement building that violated even Israeli law, in addition to international law.
In 2013, 565 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, including 208 residential structures, were demolished due to lack of Israeli-issued permits, displacing 805 people, almost half of them children.
Connie Hackbarth is editor of alternativenews.org
Israeli state pushes court to take an unusual step threatening immediate demolition of an entire Palestinian village
By refusing to issue an interim order until the case is heard, the court is allowing for the demolition of the Palestinian village of Susya and subsequent expulsion of its 340 residents to Area A.
The refusal of the state to the request of an interim order freezing the demolitions suggests it has plans to demolish the village in the near future.
The court allows the state to destroy the village before even deciding on the case.
Israeli High Court Judge Noam Solberg rejected, few days ago, the request for an interim order by the Palestinian village of Susya, represented by Rabbis for Human Rights, in a petition against the Civil Administration's decision to reject the master plan prepared by the village and against subsequent demolition of the entire village.
The village argued that their plan was rejected for non-professional reasons and that the village should be legalized due to its unique history. The residents sought an interim order to freeze the implementation of the demolitions until the petition is heard, as is standard practice in these sort of cases.
It was against this request for an interim order that Justice Solberg, without even conducting a hearing on the request, made the unusual move of granting the state's request not to freeze the orders. This decision means that the Civil Administration can now destroy Susya at any time. The demolition of the village will lead to hundreds of residents living in the desert with no roof over their heads and may result in their displacement. The state's refusal to commit to waiting for a conclusion to the court proceedings raises great alarm that it intends to implement the demolition order in the near future; tragically, it seems the villagers are in real danger.
In the petition, Susya's residents claimed that the army is obliged to legalize their village as it was the one to confiscate their land and their caves in 1986, leaving them without a housing solution and forcing them to move to their adjacent agricultural lands. As evidence to the life in the village prior to the expropriation, various testimonials and photographs of life in caves were presented to the judge. Among other things, there were documented photos of a visit by the US Consulate to the village at the beginning of 1986. The photos and testimony clearly shows that the Palestinian village of Susya is an old village formed prior to the Israeli occupation and the declaration of the area as an archaeological site.
Among the evidence was the opinion of the late governmental legal adviser Plia Albeck (considered to be very pro-settlement and who wrote in her memoirs that she tried to find legal ways to declare Palestinian land as State land), indicating the existence of a Palestinian village in 1982 where today the archaeological site stands.
Despite the evidence presented before him, revealing the many injustices done to the villagers – from the expropriation and dispossession of their lands, to the refusal by the state to recognize the status of the village in its new location - Judge Sohlberg did not agree to hear the case before allowing the demolishment the village and setting the fate of its inhabitants.
Attached to the petition, inter alia, was an expert opinion by Prof. Eyal Benvenisti, a renowned expert in international law, stipulating that the demolition of the village of Susya constitutes a war crime.
This week, a report by radical right-wing NGO "Regavim" (which has close ties to the settlement enterprise) was exposed indicating that in the nearby Jewish settlement, also called Susia, there are 23 illegal homes built on private Palestinian land. We have no indication of any attempt by the state to demolish these illegal structures in the settlement Sussia or in its nearby outposts. We see in this current situation that this Jewish settlement, whose very existence is prohibited by international law, and where some of its homes are sitting on private Palestinian land, is prosperous, while the Palestinian village of Susya, whose inhabitants are on their own private land, is at risk of displacement and loss of their entire village.
Background:
In 1986 the village of Susya was declared an archaeological site, its land expropriated, and its inhabitants, who lived in caves, were deported. While the Palestinians were told that they could not reside in an archeological site, Israeli settlers live in an illegal outpost located inside the archeological site.
After the expulsion, villagers were forced to move to their neighboring agricultural plots. Because there was no willingness to grant a zoning plan, they involuntarily became illegal builders. Dozens of villagers followed procedures in attempts to obtain building permits, but those attempts were rejected. In 2012 the villagers raised funds and submitted a proposed master plan, drawn up by Professor Rassem Khamaiseh, for the Civil Administration for review. The plan would authorize construction in the village according to accepted standards of professional planning.
The plan was rejected in 2013 on very questionable grounds, indicating a double standard in planning, and blatant discrimination against the Palestinian population. For example, it was argued that the number of residents in the village, which is a few hundred people, is not substantial enough to grant it independent planning as its own entity. On the other hand, dozens of unauthorized outposts which are built housing only a handful of residents are approved by the Civil Administration's planning body.
In addition, it was argued that the plan will prevent the population from properly developing and moving out of poverty, and therefore, they should be moved to an adjacent city. It should be noted that the city is, of course, in Area A, and what actually prevents the progress of Susya is the lack of infrastructure which they are prevented from building. Also important to note is that Israelis are permitted to choose their preferred way of life - be it urban or rural, and are not forced by the state into one or the other.
In 2014, Rabbis for Human Rights petitioned the High Court on behalf of the Susya village council and its residents against the decision to reject the village master plan (HCJ 1420/14). As mentioned, on May 5th the court rejected the request for an interim injunction, leaving the whole village vulnerable to imminent demolition.
The big picture:
The danger of demolishing and expropriating the village of Susya reflects the systemic problem of planning for Palestinian villages located in Area C; in these villages, planning is done by military planning committees, without representation of Palestinians, with the intent of preventing residents from building on their own land based on reasonable and professional planning standards. A recent High Court petition, submitted by the village council Dirat, Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Society, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and St. Yves - Catholic Human Rights Center, demands planning authority be returned to Palestinian villages for their own communities in order to prevent the tragic demolitions of hundreds of homes every year due to the impossibility of obtaining building permits.
By refusing to issue an interim order until the case is heard, the court is allowing for the demolition of the Palestinian village of Susya and subsequent expulsion of its 340 residents to Area A.
The refusal of the state to the request of an interim order freezing the demolitions suggests it has plans to demolish the village in the near future.
The court allows the state to destroy the village before even deciding on the case.
Israeli High Court Judge Noam Solberg rejected, few days ago, the request for an interim order by the Palestinian village of Susya, represented by Rabbis for Human Rights, in a petition against the Civil Administration's decision to reject the master plan prepared by the village and against subsequent demolition of the entire village.
The village argued that their plan was rejected for non-professional reasons and that the village should be legalized due to its unique history. The residents sought an interim order to freeze the implementation of the demolitions until the petition is heard, as is standard practice in these sort of cases.
It was against this request for an interim order that Justice Solberg, without even conducting a hearing on the request, made the unusual move of granting the state's request not to freeze the orders. This decision means that the Civil Administration can now destroy Susya at any time. The demolition of the village will lead to hundreds of residents living in the desert with no roof over their heads and may result in their displacement. The state's refusal to commit to waiting for a conclusion to the court proceedings raises great alarm that it intends to implement the demolition order in the near future; tragically, it seems the villagers are in real danger.
In the petition, Susya's residents claimed that the army is obliged to legalize their village as it was the one to confiscate their land and their caves in 1986, leaving them without a housing solution and forcing them to move to their adjacent agricultural lands. As evidence to the life in the village prior to the expropriation, various testimonials and photographs of life in caves were presented to the judge. Among other things, there were documented photos of a visit by the US Consulate to the village at the beginning of 1986. The photos and testimony clearly shows that the Palestinian village of Susya is an old village formed prior to the Israeli occupation and the declaration of the area as an archaeological site.
Among the evidence was the opinion of the late governmental legal adviser Plia Albeck (considered to be very pro-settlement and who wrote in her memoirs that she tried to find legal ways to declare Palestinian land as State land), indicating the existence of a Palestinian village in 1982 where today the archaeological site stands.
Despite the evidence presented before him, revealing the many injustices done to the villagers – from the expropriation and dispossession of their lands, to the refusal by the state to recognize the status of the village in its new location - Judge Sohlberg did not agree to hear the case before allowing the demolishment the village and setting the fate of its inhabitants.
Attached to the petition, inter alia, was an expert opinion by Prof. Eyal Benvenisti, a renowned expert in international law, stipulating that the demolition of the village of Susya constitutes a war crime.
This week, a report by radical right-wing NGO "Regavim" (which has close ties to the settlement enterprise) was exposed indicating that in the nearby Jewish settlement, also called Susia, there are 23 illegal homes built on private Palestinian land. We have no indication of any attempt by the state to demolish these illegal structures in the settlement Sussia or in its nearby outposts. We see in this current situation that this Jewish settlement, whose very existence is prohibited by international law, and where some of its homes are sitting on private Palestinian land, is prosperous, while the Palestinian village of Susya, whose inhabitants are on their own private land, is at risk of displacement and loss of their entire village.
Background:
In 1986 the village of Susya was declared an archaeological site, its land expropriated, and its inhabitants, who lived in caves, were deported. While the Palestinians were told that they could not reside in an archeological site, Israeli settlers live in an illegal outpost located inside the archeological site.
After the expulsion, villagers were forced to move to their neighboring agricultural plots. Because there was no willingness to grant a zoning plan, they involuntarily became illegal builders. Dozens of villagers followed procedures in attempts to obtain building permits, but those attempts were rejected. In 2012 the villagers raised funds and submitted a proposed master plan, drawn up by Professor Rassem Khamaiseh, for the Civil Administration for review. The plan would authorize construction in the village according to accepted standards of professional planning.
The plan was rejected in 2013 on very questionable grounds, indicating a double standard in planning, and blatant discrimination against the Palestinian population. For example, it was argued that the number of residents in the village, which is a few hundred people, is not substantial enough to grant it independent planning as its own entity. On the other hand, dozens of unauthorized outposts which are built housing only a handful of residents are approved by the Civil Administration's planning body.
In addition, it was argued that the plan will prevent the population from properly developing and moving out of poverty, and therefore, they should be moved to an adjacent city. It should be noted that the city is, of course, in Area A, and what actually prevents the progress of Susya is the lack of infrastructure which they are prevented from building. Also important to note is that Israelis are permitted to choose their preferred way of life - be it urban or rural, and are not forced by the state into one or the other.
In 2014, Rabbis for Human Rights petitioned the High Court on behalf of the Susya village council and its residents against the decision to reject the village master plan (HCJ 1420/14). As mentioned, on May 5th the court rejected the request for an interim injunction, leaving the whole village vulnerable to imminent demolition.
The big picture:
The danger of demolishing and expropriating the village of Susya reflects the systemic problem of planning for Palestinian villages located in Area C; in these villages, planning is done by military planning committees, without representation of Palestinians, with the intent of preventing residents from building on their own land based on reasonable and professional planning standards. A recent High Court petition, submitted by the village council Dirat, Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Society, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and St. Yves - Catholic Human Rights Center, demands planning authority be returned to Palestinian villages for their own communities in order to prevent the tragic demolitions of hundreds of homes every year due to the impossibility of obtaining building permits.
8 may 2015
Israeli sources reported Friday that an agreement was reached between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the “Jewish Home” Party, to legalize random colonial outposts, built on Palestinian lands, in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Channel 7 has reported that the agreement came following pressure from the head of the Jewish Home Party, legislator Naftali Bennett, as part of an agreement to join the right-wing coalition government.
After the new government is formed, Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit will be heading a committee to formulate a framework meant for legalizing outposts, built by Israeli settlers on Palestinian lands, without the government approval.
Representatives of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and Justice Ministry are also part of the new committee.
The struck deal requires the new government to start the actual preparations one month after it is formed.
The committee will be discussing and finalizing all legal issues to “legalize” the outposts, before submitting its report within sixty days after its formation, and the government will then approve and implement the recommendations.
Israeli Channel 7 has reported that the agreement came following pressure from the head of the Jewish Home Party, legislator Naftali Bennett, as part of an agreement to join the right-wing coalition government.
After the new government is formed, Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit will be heading a committee to formulate a framework meant for legalizing outposts, built by Israeli settlers on Palestinian lands, without the government approval.
Representatives of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and Justice Ministry are also part of the new committee.
The struck deal requires the new government to start the actual preparations one month after it is formed.
The committee will be discussing and finalizing all legal issues to “legalize” the outposts, before submitting its report within sixty days after its formation, and the government will then approve and implement the recommendations.
Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Hebron Rateb Jabour stated Thursday that the Israeli army planted a new field of explosives, and fenced it, east of Yatta city, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.
Jabour said the new landmine field was planted in the Um Lasfa and Khallet al-Mayya areas, close to the Abu Shaban Well that was recently repaired, and rehabilitated, by an international organization that also funded a new water tank structure for the use of the Palestinian villagers.
Jabour added that the soldiers fenced more than a quarter of a Dunam of Palestinian lands, and placed warning sings.
He strongly denounced the Israeli violation, and said that the practices of the army and its government aim at preventing any development projects and any demographic expansion of Palestinian communities.
Jabour also stated that there are many illegal Israeli colonies east of Yatta city, and that the army is constantly trying to control more Palestinian lands for military purposes, and for the expansion of settlements.
Jabour said the new landmine field was planted in the Um Lasfa and Khallet al-Mayya areas, close to the Abu Shaban Well that was recently repaired, and rehabilitated, by an international organization that also funded a new water tank structure for the use of the Palestinian villagers.
Jabour added that the soldiers fenced more than a quarter of a Dunam of Palestinian lands, and placed warning sings.
He strongly denounced the Israeli violation, and said that the practices of the army and its government aim at preventing any development projects and any demographic expansion of Palestinian communities.
Jabour also stated that there are many illegal Israeli colonies east of Yatta city, and that the army is constantly trying to control more Palestinian lands for military purposes, and for the expansion of settlements.
7 may 2015
Israeli military bulldozers razed an industrial structure used for repairing vehicles in al-Khader town in southern Bethlehem.
The Coordinator of the Popular Committees against Settlement Ahmad Salah said the Israeli forces razed an industrial structure which area is estimated at 80 square meters and used as auto repair shop.
Salah pointed out that the shop belongs to a Palestinian man called Jamal al-Abed. It is his only source of income.
Nevertheless, it has been razed due to the lack of a building permit which is a false pretense for justification the demolition of Palestinian houses and structures, Salah added.
The Coordinator of the Popular Committees against Settlement Ahmad Salah said the Israeli forces razed an industrial structure which area is estimated at 80 square meters and used as auto repair shop.
Salah pointed out that the shop belongs to a Palestinian man called Jamal al-Abed. It is his only source of income.
Nevertheless, it has been razed due to the lack of a building permit which is a false pretense for justification the demolition of Palestinian houses and structures, Salah added.
At least seven schoolchildren inhaled tear gas during clashes with Israeli troops Thursday morning in Arab al-Ramadin village south of Hebron in the southern West Bank, the local council reported.
Ahmad Suleiman, who heads the village's local council, said large numbers of Israeli troops stormed the area and destroyed the main electricity network.
As a result, angry schoolchildren clashed with the soldiers who showered them with tear gas hurting at least seven. Two children have been detained, according to Suleiman. This was the second time Israeli forces destroyed the village's electricity network, added Suleiman, who noted that the local council filed legal procedures at an Israeli court.
Ahmad Suleiman, who heads the village's local council, said large numbers of Israeli troops stormed the area and destroyed the main electricity network.
As a result, angry schoolchildren clashed with the soldiers who showered them with tear gas hurting at least seven. Two children have been detained, according to Suleiman. This was the second time Israeli forces destroyed the village's electricity network, added Suleiman, who noted that the local council filed legal procedures at an Israeli court.
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By: Charlie Hoyle
Hundreds of Palestinian villagers in the northern Jordan Valley have been forcibly displaced this week as Israel conducts unprecedented military drills around villages near Tubas.The army drills, which began on Sunday, have seen a large-scale mobilization of Israeli military vehicles around villages east and south of Tubas, with the Jordan Valley Solidarity group estimating that hundreds of tanks, helicopters, and heavy machinery have been moved into the area. The exercises are taking place in a closed military zone east of Tubas in Area C -- also home to several large Palestinian communities -- and have so far displaced 18 families from Khirbet Humsa, 30 families from Hammamat al-Maleh, five families from Frush Beit Dajan and 13 families from Ibziq, JVS says. |
Israeli military officials forced some of the farming communities to sign papers one week ago obliging them to leave their homes from May 3 until May 7, while other communities in al-Hadidya have been put on standby to be evacuated, meaning the length of the military drills is as yet undetermined.Villagers say that if they refuse to leave during the drills the Israeli army will simply destroy their homes."Either they leave or are forced to leave,"
Sarah Cobham, a volunteer with JVS told Ma'an from al-Hadidya, the buzz of military activity audible in the background.
"When people have to leave their homes they are given no support, so all they can do is stay with other people they know in the area and find people to help look after their animals. There is no compensation.
"Dust, explosions, smoke, and the sound of gunfire permeate the landscape as tanks and military vehicles launch artillery fire in the area, with the farming and herding communities left to worry about the crops and livestock that they left behind, primary sources of income for most families.
And their fears are well justified. On April 28, over 3,000 dunams of crops and trees were destroyed after a fire broke out due to army drills in the area, while 5,000 dunams of land were burnt near al-Hadidya on May 4 due to heavy military fire, JVS activists said.
The military drills involve over 50 tanks, heavy artillery fire, and targets set up, most notably in the village of Bardala, for military aircraft to bomb, meaning that extensive damage to the natural landscape and agricultural crops is inevitable.
Cobham, who was in Khirbet Humsa before the mass evacuation of villagers, said the atmosphere was "very, very tense," with families extremely angry and worried about what will happen to them.
"It's about the uncertainty in peoples' lives. They don't know how long the training is going on for, or if or when the road will be blocked, or when they can move. That's a major part of the impact."
"This military training right next to Palestinian homes is clearly part of the (Israeli) occupation's attempts to pressurize people to leave their land."
'Depopulated of Palestinians'
Israeli military training exercises in the Jordan Valley have increased dramatically since 2012 and are one of many tools used to forcibly displace rural Palestinian communities, JVS says, part of a historic process of creeping annexation of the valley by Israel's military.
Forming a third of the occupied West Bank and with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C -- under full Israeli security and administrative control -- the Jordan Valley has long been a strategic area of land unlikely to return to Palestinians following Israel's occupation in 1967.
Jeff Halper, co-founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, told Ma'an that since 1948 Israel has viewed the Jordan Valley as its "security border" and there is no possibility, even within the framework of a two-state solution, that it will revert back to Palestinians.
"The Jordan Valley is special in that it is seen as central to Israel's security and from that point of view its non negotiable. There has been a process of Judaization and it has largely been de-populated of Palestinians."
Halper says that before Israel's 1967 occupation, around 250,000 Palestinians lived in the Jordan Valley, a number that today only stands at 50,000, most of whom live in Jericho. Mass house demolitions, settlement construction, and the establishment of Israeli agricultural production zones have essentially replaced the Palestinian population, with any remaining land declared as closed military areas.
"Military activities have always been a cover for displacement. Over time they will pass the land over to settlers. It's a layered process,"Halper said. The unpredictability of the training drills leaves rural Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley anxious about when they will be displaced, and whether the next time will be permanent.
Palestinians in the Jordan Valley are one of the most vulnerable groups to displacement, with over 60 percent of the 6,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced since 2008 belonged to herding or Bedouin communities, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Rashid Sawaftah, coordinator of the Jordan Valley Solidarity, told Ma'an that the communities are essentially under siege and forced to put their lives on hold while the drills take place. Unable to return to their homes, and with most roads blocked, families take refuge under trees and in the open while they wait to return amid an uncertain future.
"Training exercises, all this of kind of violence, affects all the families," he said. "People are very sad and the children cannot understand this kind of pressure and insecurity." "It is a way to transfer people from the land."
Sarah Cobham, a volunteer with JVS told Ma'an from al-Hadidya, the buzz of military activity audible in the background.
"When people have to leave their homes they are given no support, so all they can do is stay with other people they know in the area and find people to help look after their animals. There is no compensation.
"Dust, explosions, smoke, and the sound of gunfire permeate the landscape as tanks and military vehicles launch artillery fire in the area, with the farming and herding communities left to worry about the crops and livestock that they left behind, primary sources of income for most families.
And their fears are well justified. On April 28, over 3,000 dunams of crops and trees were destroyed after a fire broke out due to army drills in the area, while 5,000 dunams of land were burnt near al-Hadidya on May 4 due to heavy military fire, JVS activists said.
The military drills involve over 50 tanks, heavy artillery fire, and targets set up, most notably in the village of Bardala, for military aircraft to bomb, meaning that extensive damage to the natural landscape and agricultural crops is inevitable.
Cobham, who was in Khirbet Humsa before the mass evacuation of villagers, said the atmosphere was "very, very tense," with families extremely angry and worried about what will happen to them.
"It's about the uncertainty in peoples' lives. They don't know how long the training is going on for, or if or when the road will be blocked, or when they can move. That's a major part of the impact."
"This military training right next to Palestinian homes is clearly part of the (Israeli) occupation's attempts to pressurize people to leave their land."
'Depopulated of Palestinians'
Israeli military training exercises in the Jordan Valley have increased dramatically since 2012 and are one of many tools used to forcibly displace rural Palestinian communities, JVS says, part of a historic process of creeping annexation of the valley by Israel's military.
Forming a third of the occupied West Bank and with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C -- under full Israeli security and administrative control -- the Jordan Valley has long been a strategic area of land unlikely to return to Palestinians following Israel's occupation in 1967.
Jeff Halper, co-founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, told Ma'an that since 1948 Israel has viewed the Jordan Valley as its "security border" and there is no possibility, even within the framework of a two-state solution, that it will revert back to Palestinians.
"The Jordan Valley is special in that it is seen as central to Israel's security and from that point of view its non negotiable. There has been a process of Judaization and it has largely been de-populated of Palestinians."
Halper says that before Israel's 1967 occupation, around 250,000 Palestinians lived in the Jordan Valley, a number that today only stands at 50,000, most of whom live in Jericho. Mass house demolitions, settlement construction, and the establishment of Israeli agricultural production zones have essentially replaced the Palestinian population, with any remaining land declared as closed military areas.
"Military activities have always been a cover for displacement. Over time they will pass the land over to settlers. It's a layered process,"Halper said. The unpredictability of the training drills leaves rural Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley anxious about when they will be displaced, and whether the next time will be permanent.
Palestinians in the Jordan Valley are one of the most vulnerable groups to displacement, with over 60 percent of the 6,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced since 2008 belonged to herding or Bedouin communities, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Rashid Sawaftah, coordinator of the Jordan Valley Solidarity, told Ma'an that the communities are essentially under siege and forced to put their lives on hold while the drills take place. Unable to return to their homes, and with most roads blocked, families take refuge under trees and in the open while they wait to return amid an uncertain future.
"Training exercises, all this of kind of violence, affects all the families," he said. "People are very sad and the children cannot understand this kind of pressure and insecurity." "It is a way to transfer people from the land."
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) advanced into Palestinian lands to the east of Rafah, in southern Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and leveled lands amid arbitrary shooting.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that four Israeli military bulldozers advanced into lands to the east of al-Shawkeh neighborhood in Rafah for a limited distance estimated at 150 meters.
The Israeli bulldozers leveled and razed lands amid intermittent firing at agricultural lands. No casualties have been reported.
The IOF opened its machineguns fire at the eastern outskirts of the blockaded enclave three times this week and arrested three Palestinian minors for trying to cross the security fence east of Rafah.
This comes as Israel has violated the ceasrefire hundreds of time, in observers call "a one-sided" ceasefire".
Local sources told the PIC reporter that four Israeli military bulldozers advanced into lands to the east of al-Shawkeh neighborhood in Rafah for a limited distance estimated at 150 meters.
The Israeli bulldozers leveled and razed lands amid intermittent firing at agricultural lands. No casualties have been reported.
The IOF opened its machineguns fire at the eastern outskirts of the blockaded enclave three times this week and arrested three Palestinian minors for trying to cross the security fence east of Rafah.
This comes as Israel has violated the ceasrefire hundreds of time, in observers call "a one-sided" ceasefire".
Qais Abu Laila
Palestinian Legislator, deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Qais Abu Laila, stated that the Israel is using its so-called “Absentee Property Law” as a pretext to rob the Palestinians of their homes and lands, and as part of its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
Abu Laila strongly denounced the illegal confiscated of Palestinian apartments in Maragha neighborhood, in Silwan town south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied East Jerusalem.
“This is part of Israel’s illegal policies of land theft, property theft and expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian people,” Abu Laila said, “It is part of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleaning, carried out by the occupation and the illegal colonizers in the occupied city.”
The Palestinian official also stated that Israel’s government has been acting on removing the Palestinians from Jerusalem through its illegal “Absentee Property Law” that enables the government to obtain ownership of property belonging to indigenous Palestinians living in exile due to illegal Israeli practices, and racist policies.
“These are racist polices by an apartheid regime that wants to empty the city from its indigenous inhabitants,” Abu Laila said, “They are imposing high taxes and fines, and are revoking Jerusalem ID’s of the Palestinians under different false pretenses and policies.”
He also stated that Tel Aviv is waging an open war on the Palestinians in Jerusalem, attacking them, occupying their homes to replace them with illegal colonizers, and demolishing their homes in order to change the entire demography of the holy city.
“Every Palestinian, every Palestinian property is a target of this ethnic cleaning in Jerusalem,” Abu Laila said, “Israel wants to create new facts on the ground, to enforce its own apartheid policies, including separating Jerusalem from all surrounding Palestinian towns.”
The official said that, due to Israel’s ongoing crimes, apartheid policies and ethnic cleansing, the International Criminal Court stands as the viable option to end land theft, colonies and crimes, especially since the International Community continues to fail in stopping the Israeli crimes and colonial policies.
He stated that the Palestinians will remain steadfast in their lands, will continue and escalate the popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and its colonies.
Palestinian Legislator, deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Qais Abu Laila, stated that the Israel is using its so-called “Absentee Property Law” as a pretext to rob the Palestinians of their homes and lands, and as part of its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
Abu Laila strongly denounced the illegal confiscated of Palestinian apartments in Maragha neighborhood, in Silwan town south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied East Jerusalem.
“This is part of Israel’s illegal policies of land theft, property theft and expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian people,” Abu Laila said, “It is part of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleaning, carried out by the occupation and the illegal colonizers in the occupied city.”
The Palestinian official also stated that Israel’s government has been acting on removing the Palestinians from Jerusalem through its illegal “Absentee Property Law” that enables the government to obtain ownership of property belonging to indigenous Palestinians living in exile due to illegal Israeli practices, and racist policies.
“These are racist polices by an apartheid regime that wants to empty the city from its indigenous inhabitants,” Abu Laila said, “They are imposing high taxes and fines, and are revoking Jerusalem ID’s of the Palestinians under different false pretenses and policies.”
He also stated that Tel Aviv is waging an open war on the Palestinians in Jerusalem, attacking them, occupying their homes to replace them with illegal colonizers, and demolishing their homes in order to change the entire demography of the holy city.
“Every Palestinian, every Palestinian property is a target of this ethnic cleaning in Jerusalem,” Abu Laila said, “Israel wants to create new facts on the ground, to enforce its own apartheid policies, including separating Jerusalem from all surrounding Palestinian towns.”
The official said that, due to Israel’s ongoing crimes, apartheid policies and ethnic cleansing, the International Criminal Court stands as the viable option to end land theft, colonies and crimes, especially since the International Community continues to fail in stopping the Israeli crimes and colonial policies.
He stated that the Palestinians will remain steadfast in their lands, will continue and escalate the popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and its colonies.
The Israeli army invaded, Wednesday, Jabal al-Baba area, east of the al-Ezariyya town, east of occupied Jerusalem, and handed three demolition orders.
Fateh Movement Secretary in Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin village Daoud al-Jahalin said dozens of soldiers, and employees of the Israeli “Civil Administration Office,” run by the army, invaded the Bedouin community, and handed the orders to Ahmad Tarabin, Mahmoud Jahalin and Salem Jahalin.
He added that sixteen person inhabit the targeted homes, and will be rendered homeless should Israel carry out the destruction of their properties.
The Civil Administration informed the families they have until May 18 to file appeals against the demolition orders.
Bedouin villages in the occupied West Bank are subject to constant violations, displacement and assaults, while the military also repeatedly forces them out of the homes and lands, to conduct military training in the Jordan Valley.
Dozens of Bedouin communities in the occupied Negev are also subject to frequent demolition and displacement, as Israeli does not recognize them, although they have been there before Israel was established in the historic land of Palestine in 1948.
One of those villages in the Negev is the al-Araqib village that was destroyed by the army more than eighty-two times.
The demolitions are part of the so-called “Negev Development Plan” that aims at destroying Bedouin communities, and relocating them in certain area, so that Israeli can build illegal settlements and shopping centers.
Fateh Movement Secretary in Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin village Daoud al-Jahalin said dozens of soldiers, and employees of the Israeli “Civil Administration Office,” run by the army, invaded the Bedouin community, and handed the orders to Ahmad Tarabin, Mahmoud Jahalin and Salem Jahalin.
He added that sixteen person inhabit the targeted homes, and will be rendered homeless should Israel carry out the destruction of their properties.
The Civil Administration informed the families they have until May 18 to file appeals against the demolition orders.
Bedouin villages in the occupied West Bank are subject to constant violations, displacement and assaults, while the military also repeatedly forces them out of the homes and lands, to conduct military training in the Jordan Valley.
Dozens of Bedouin communities in the occupied Negev are also subject to frequent demolition and displacement, as Israeli does not recognize them, although they have been there before Israel was established in the historic land of Palestine in 1948.
One of those villages in the Negev is the al-Araqib village that was destroyed by the army more than eighty-two times.
The demolitions are part of the so-called “Negev Development Plan” that aims at destroying Bedouin communities, and relocating them in certain area, so that Israeli can build illegal settlements and shopping centers.
