10 dec 2016
Palestinians on horseback watch as an Israeli tank is carried toward the ‘live-fire zone’ in the Jordan Valley, West Bank, December 8, 2016
Ninety-one Palestinians in the Jordan Valley were forced to leave their homes while the army trained near their homes. Military officials have previously admitted that ‘firing zones’ are being used to expel Palestinians from areas of the West Bank.
For the past week, the Israeli army has been training in areas designated “firing zones” in the Jordan Valley, in the northeastern edge of the West Bank. As a result dozens of families belonging to the A-Ras al-Ahmar community, as well as three families from Khirbet Humsa — a total of 91 people, of them 15 children — were made to leave their homes midday. An additional hundred families living in various communities in the northern Jordan Valley, adjacent to the firing zones, were given military orders forbidding them to leave the areas around their homes or graze their sheep in the nearby hills during training days.
Evacuating civilians from their homes for the purpose of military training is a contravention of international humanitarian law. Israel, as the occupying power, is not allowed to use occupied territory for military purposes.
This is not the first time the Israeli army holds training exercises in populated areas of the Jordan Valley. In fact, members of the A-Ras al-Ahmar and Khirbet Humsa communities are forced to evacuate their homes every few months under the same pretext. According to statistics provided by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, families from A-Ras al-Ahmar had been evacuated eight different times in 2015, while families from Khirbet Humsa were evacuated 19 times in the same year due to military training exercises.
Ninety-one Palestinians in the Jordan Valley were forced to leave their homes while the army trained near their homes. Military officials have previously admitted that ‘firing zones’ are being used to expel Palestinians from areas of the West Bank.
For the past week, the Israeli army has been training in areas designated “firing zones” in the Jordan Valley, in the northeastern edge of the West Bank. As a result dozens of families belonging to the A-Ras al-Ahmar community, as well as three families from Khirbet Humsa — a total of 91 people, of them 15 children — were made to leave their homes midday. An additional hundred families living in various communities in the northern Jordan Valley, adjacent to the firing zones, were given military orders forbidding them to leave the areas around their homes or graze their sheep in the nearby hills during training days.
Evacuating civilians from their homes for the purpose of military training is a contravention of international humanitarian law. Israel, as the occupying power, is not allowed to use occupied territory for military purposes.
This is not the first time the Israeli army holds training exercises in populated areas of the Jordan Valley. In fact, members of the A-Ras al-Ahmar and Khirbet Humsa communities are forced to evacuate their homes every few months under the same pretext. According to statistics provided by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, families from A-Ras al-Ahmar had been evacuated eight different times in 2015, while families from Khirbet Humsa were evacuated 19 times in the same year due to military training exercises.
Palestinians look on at an army training exercise in the Jordan Valley, West Bank, December 8, 2016.
On Thursday, the final day of the training, Ali Beni Odeh, a resident of A-Ras al-Ahmar told +972 Magazine that every time the army arrives for training, the community must evacuate and leave their livestock in enclosures by the tent encampments by themselves.
The families’ inability to work their land or tend to their animals while they are at pasture means their livelihoods take a significant hit. “We leave without anything, only with the clothes on our backs, and stay away for hours without anything, without any provisions. We cannot even go to our homes to bring water.”
They carry few supplies by foot, since the army confiscated their tractor before the training was set to start. Just in the past two months the army confiscated 10 tractors from families in the A-Ras al-Ahmar community. “This is the only area we have,” says Ali. “If we had somewhere to go we would, but if we leave here we will have to sell our livestock.” This past January, the army attempted to evacuate 10 families from a-Ras al-Ahmar, yet weather conditions prevented them from doing so.
This, however, did not stop soldiers from training adjacent to the camp, who damaged agricultural land and the main access road to the village. “This great affects us, especially the children. They have nightmares. They cry in their sleep. They are afraid of the trainings because of their proximity. What will we do… our lives are difficult,” Ali tells me.
A ‘new’ routine
On Thursday, the final day of the training, Ali Beni Odeh, a resident of A-Ras al-Ahmar told +972 Magazine that every time the army arrives for training, the community must evacuate and leave their livestock in enclosures by the tent encampments by themselves.
The families’ inability to work their land or tend to their animals while they are at pasture means their livelihoods take a significant hit. “We leave without anything, only with the clothes on our backs, and stay away for hours without anything, without any provisions. We cannot even go to our homes to bring water.”
They carry few supplies by foot, since the army confiscated their tractor before the training was set to start. Just in the past two months the army confiscated 10 tractors from families in the A-Ras al-Ahmar community. “This is the only area we have,” says Ali. “If we had somewhere to go we would, but if we leave here we will have to sell our livestock.” This past January, the army attempted to evacuate 10 families from a-Ras al-Ahmar, yet weather conditions prevented them from doing so.
This, however, did not stop soldiers from training adjacent to the camp, who damaged agricultural land and the main access road to the village. “This great affects us, especially the children. They have nightmares. They cry in their sleep. They are afraid of the trainings because of their proximity. What will we do… our lives are difficult,” Ali tells me.
A ‘new’ routine
An ice cream truck parks in the IDF firing zone, Jordan Valley, West Bank, December 8, 2016
An ice cream truck passes between the soldiers who walk around during their breaks, while the Palestinians who were not forced from their homes watch as tanks pass by their homes. “They didn’t cause us any trouble,” one of them tells me, “they just told us not to walk around or take the sheep beyond the area of the house this week.”
Eighty-eight percent of the Jordan Valley, which makes up more than a fourth of the West Bank, is defined as Area C, which means it falls under full Israeli military control. Nearly every place Palestinians in the Jordan Valley can move to is settlement territory, a nature reserve, or a firing zone, severely restricting their movement and ability to build a home. It means living under a regime in which most things are off limits.
The approximately 2,700 Palestinians living in 20 small communities have been living in what the military has termed “live-fire zones” since the 1970s. In 2009 the army began systematically placing dozens of concrete roadblocks around these communities, designating the territory an firing zone where entrance is forbidden. By 2012 the evacuation of families from these areas became more commonplace — today it has become a routine.
Traces of Israeli forces remained in the area even after the army left. B’Tselem researcher A’araf Drarma reported that 500 dunam of agricultural land, used mostly for growing corn, was left in ruins. The training exercises on the land pose a risk to the lives of the residents due to duds left in the area.
A struggle against illegal construction?
An ice cream truck passes between the soldiers who walk around during their breaks, while the Palestinians who were not forced from their homes watch as tanks pass by their homes. “They didn’t cause us any trouble,” one of them tells me, “they just told us not to walk around or take the sheep beyond the area of the house this week.”
Eighty-eight percent of the Jordan Valley, which makes up more than a fourth of the West Bank, is defined as Area C, which means it falls under full Israeli military control. Nearly every place Palestinians in the Jordan Valley can move to is settlement territory, a nature reserve, or a firing zone, severely restricting their movement and ability to build a home. It means living under a regime in which most things are off limits.
The approximately 2,700 Palestinians living in 20 small communities have been living in what the military has termed “live-fire zones” since the 1970s. In 2009 the army began systematically placing dozens of concrete roadblocks around these communities, designating the territory an firing zone where entrance is forbidden. By 2012 the evacuation of families from these areas became more commonplace — today it has become a routine.
Traces of Israeli forces remained in the area even after the army left. B’Tselem researcher A’araf Drarma reported that 500 dunam of agricultural land, used mostly for growing corn, was left in ruins. The training exercises on the land pose a risk to the lives of the residents due to duds left in the area.
A struggle against illegal construction?
A roadblock delineating the entrance to a military training area, Jordan Valley, West Bank, June 18, 2009
Traces of Israeli forces remained in the area even after the army left. B’Tselem researcher A’araf Drarma reported that 500 dunam of agricultural land, used mostly for growing corn, was left in ruins. The training exercises on the land pose a risk to the lives of the residents due to duds left in the area.
A struggle against illegal construction?
In 2014 Haaretz journalist Amira Hass published an article which revealed how the army had been increasingly conducting training in the Jordan Valley and other areas of the West Bank as a means of decreasing the number of Palestinian residents there, as well as to combat illegal construction. Hass published the protocol of a closed-door Knesset committee meeting during which Col. Einav Shalev, operations officer of Central Command, argued before the committee that the desire to fight against illegal construction is one of the main reasons that the IDF had been increasing its training in the West Bank:
I think that one of the positive processes that can slip through our fingers is the return of firing zones to a places they are supposed to be yet are not there. This is one of the main reasons that the military establishment conducts many trainings in the Jordan Valley. That is, anyone who looks at the last division training with fighter jets, helicopters and tanks that used artillery, etc… We are now introducing an additional division training in this area…in places where we significantly reduced the amount of training, weeds have grown. This is something that should be taken into consideration.
It’s enough to look at Ali Beni Odeh and his family to understand the effectiveness of military training as a means of creating pressure on the Palestinian residents. A shepherd who cannot herd, destroyed agricultural land, and confiscated tools only make it more difficult for the local population, which largely lives off land and livestock, to survive.
Traces of Israeli forces remained in the area even after the army left. B’Tselem researcher A’araf Drarma reported that 500 dunam of agricultural land, used mostly for growing corn, was left in ruins. The training exercises on the land pose a risk to the lives of the residents due to duds left in the area.
A struggle against illegal construction?
In 2014 Haaretz journalist Amira Hass published an article which revealed how the army had been increasingly conducting training in the Jordan Valley and other areas of the West Bank as a means of decreasing the number of Palestinian residents there, as well as to combat illegal construction. Hass published the protocol of a closed-door Knesset committee meeting during which Col. Einav Shalev, operations officer of Central Command, argued before the committee that the desire to fight against illegal construction is one of the main reasons that the IDF had been increasing its training in the West Bank:
I think that one of the positive processes that can slip through our fingers is the return of firing zones to a places they are supposed to be yet are not there. This is one of the main reasons that the military establishment conducts many trainings in the Jordan Valley. That is, anyone who looks at the last division training with fighter jets, helicopters and tanks that used artillery, etc… We are now introducing an additional division training in this area…in places where we significantly reduced the amount of training, weeds have grown. This is something that should be taken into consideration.
It’s enough to look at Ali Beni Odeh and his family to understand the effectiveness of military training as a means of creating pressure on the Palestinian residents. A shepherd who cannot herd, destroyed agricultural land, and confiscated tools only make it more difficult for the local population, which largely lives off land and livestock, to survive.
A new settlement outpost built near the West Bank settlement of Mehola, Jordan Valley, December 8, 2016
Col. Shalev also told the committee that he makes no distinction between Jews and Palestinians. But the reality on the ground actually does make that distinction. It is unsurprising, for instance, that not one of the 39 settlements or outposts scattered across the Jordan Valley has been affected by the training.
In fact, around the time that these communities were evacuated, settlers built a small outpost adjacent to the settlement of Mehola. The caravan and animal pen, both of which were erected several months ago, are likely to expand, as indicated by a small garden that was recently planted, along with a pile of beds and pieces of furniture.
A struggle against illegal construction? Depends how you look at it.
Col. Shalev also told the committee that he makes no distinction between Jews and Palestinians. But the reality on the ground actually does make that distinction. It is unsurprising, for instance, that not one of the 39 settlements or outposts scattered across the Jordan Valley has been affected by the training.
In fact, around the time that these communities were evacuated, settlers built a small outpost adjacent to the settlement of Mehola. The caravan and animal pen, both of which were erected several months ago, are likely to expand, as indicated by a small garden that was recently planted, along with a pile of beds and pieces of furniture.
A struggle against illegal construction? Depends how you look at it.
Israeli settlers demolished an under-construction house in the town of Silat ad-Dhahar, south of Jenin, on Saturday while other settlers seized a water well in the village of Madma near Nablus.
Jihad al-Zabidi, an employee in Silat ad-Dhahar municipality, said, “A group of Israeli settlers demolished an under-construction house near the evacuated settlement of Homesh”.
“The settlers demolished the house at night”, he told Quds Press, adding that the house is near the settlement where they regularly arrive to practice their religious rituals.
Zabidi said that the owner of the house, Iyad Abu Diyak, was shocked by the destruction that befell his house.
In the same context, Israeli settlers seized control over a water well that the people of Madma village use for agricultural purposes.
Talat Ziada, head of the village council, said that Israeli settlers from Yitzhar settlement stole water from al-Sha’ra well that people use for irrigation purposes.
According to Ziada, the Israeli occupation authorities have been preventing them from approaching the well for years, which make it vulnerable to settlers’ attacks.
Ziada said that he would follow up the issue with concerned authorities in order to stop the settlers' violations, noting that the village was already suffering from poor water resources.
Jihad al-Zabidi, an employee in Silat ad-Dhahar municipality, said, “A group of Israeli settlers demolished an under-construction house near the evacuated settlement of Homesh”.
“The settlers demolished the house at night”, he told Quds Press, adding that the house is near the settlement where they regularly arrive to practice their religious rituals.
Zabidi said that the owner of the house, Iyad Abu Diyak, was shocked by the destruction that befell his house.
In the same context, Israeli settlers seized control over a water well that the people of Madma village use for agricultural purposes.
Talat Ziada, head of the village council, said that Israeli settlers from Yitzhar settlement stole water from al-Sha’ra well that people use for irrigation purposes.
According to Ziada, the Israeli occupation authorities have been preventing them from approaching the well for years, which make it vulnerable to settlers’ attacks.
Ziada said that he would follow up the issue with concerned authorities in order to stop the settlers' violations, noting that the village was already suffering from poor water resources.
Israeli settlers’ bulldozers razed more Palestinian lands in Deir Ballut town in Salfit province to the north of the West Bank to pave the way for settlement expansion.
The PIC reporter quoted local farmers as saying that bulldozers belonging to the Israeli illegal settlement of Leshem razed Palestinian agricultural lands located near the local homes in the town.
The bulldozing operations led to a severe lack of land for local farmers and distorted the beautiful landscape, the sources added.
The Leshem settlement was constructed in 2013 on Palestinian lands from the nearby Kafr al-Dik and Deir Ballut villages.
At the time, three major architectural sites in the area were damaged by its construction.
Some 12 thousand dunums were confiscated from the Kafr al-Dik village out of the original 20 thousand dunums.
Leshem is located within the expansive Ariel settlement bloc as it cuts deep into the northern West Bank, south of Nablus.
The construction of settlements and the transfer of the occupying power's population into occupied lands is strictly forbidden under international law, and critics have likened the situation to "colonialism" and "apartheid."
The PIC reporter quoted local farmers as saying that bulldozers belonging to the Israeli illegal settlement of Leshem razed Palestinian agricultural lands located near the local homes in the town.
The bulldozing operations led to a severe lack of land for local farmers and distorted the beautiful landscape, the sources added.
The Leshem settlement was constructed in 2013 on Palestinian lands from the nearby Kafr al-Dik and Deir Ballut villages.
At the time, three major architectural sites in the area were damaged by its construction.
Some 12 thousand dunums were confiscated from the Kafr al-Dik village out of the original 20 thousand dunums.
Leshem is located within the expansive Ariel settlement bloc as it cuts deep into the northern West Bank, south of Nablus.
The construction of settlements and the transfer of the occupying power's population into occupied lands is strictly forbidden under international law, and critics have likened the situation to "colonialism" and "apartheid."
The Israeli authorities decided to seize a vast tract of mortmain green land belonging to the Armenian Church in al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem, and use it as a national park for Jewish settlers.
Members of the Armenian community in the village affirmed that the Israeli nature and parks authority started to take over this area, which is estimated to be 50 dunums of land.
They also said that clashes broke out between them and Israeli soldiers last Saturday in the area following a prayer day held at the Church.
They expressed their fears that the place, where Christian rituals take place, could turn into a Jewish site, calling for fencing the area in order to protect it.
Members of the Armenian community in the village affirmed that the Israeli nature and parks authority started to take over this area, which is estimated to be 50 dunums of land.
They also said that clashes broke out between them and Israeli soldiers last Saturday in the area following a prayer day held at the Church.
They expressed their fears that the place, where Christian rituals take place, could turn into a Jewish site, calling for fencing the area in order to protect it.
9 dec 2016
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) on Friday threatened the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes near the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem.
According to a PIC news correspondent, Israeli municipality personnel, escorted by an army patrol, notified the demolition of a number of Palestinian family homes in Silwan town, to the south of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
The demolition notifications targeted al-Bustan neighborhood, whose residents have permanently come under Israeli threats to knock down their 88 homes in favor of illegal settlement expansion and Judaization schemes near the al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to a PIC news correspondent, Israeli municipality personnel, escorted by an army patrol, notified the demolition of a number of Palestinian family homes in Silwan town, to the south of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
The demolition notifications targeted al-Bustan neighborhood, whose residents have permanently come under Israeli threats to knock down their 88 homes in favor of illegal settlement expansion and Judaization schemes near the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli army caused widespread damage to cultivated plots of land and pastures in different Palestinian hamlets of the northern Jordan Valley during the large-scale military drills which it carried out on Thursday.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that dozens of dunums of fields in Umm al-Jammal, al-Farisiya and Aynoun hamlets sustained damage as a result of the military exercises.
They accused the Israeli army of deliberately driving their armored vehicles over the fields in order to destroy the crops.
The Israeli army had displaced several Bedouin families in different areas of the northern Jordan Valley on Thursday in order to conduct its drills, which continued from the morning until the night.
The displacement of civilians, firing of live ammunition, explosions and road closures that took place during the last two days in this region have not been reported by the Israeli and international media.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that dozens of dunums of fields in Umm al-Jammal, al-Farisiya and Aynoun hamlets sustained damage as a result of the military exercises.
They accused the Israeli army of deliberately driving their armored vehicles over the fields in order to destroy the crops.
The Israeli army had displaced several Bedouin families in different areas of the northern Jordan Valley on Thursday in order to conduct its drills, which continued from the morning until the night.
The displacement of civilians, firing of live ammunition, explosions and road closures that took place during the last two days in this region have not been reported by the Israeli and international media.
8 dec 2016
The Israeli army on Thursday displaced 13 Bedouin families living in different areas of the northern Jordan Valley at the pretext of conducting large-scale military drills.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Israeli army officers ordered on Wednesday three families in Hemsa al-Fawqa hamlet in the northern Jordan Valley to leave their homes the next day from 10:30 am to 05:00 pm due to military exercises.
10 other Bedouin families were also told to evacuate homes on the same day in Ras al-Ahmar hamlet near Tamun for the same reason.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army closed yesterday the Tubas-Jordan Valley road and deployed several military in the area as part of preparations for the drills.
Israel’s racist policy in the Jordan Valley turns vast areas into military training fields and treats the Palestinian natives living there as beings having no rights.
Israel chooses training grounds selectively. Training never takes place close to settlements in the Jordan Valley in order to avoid putting Jewish settlers in danger or disrupt their lives.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Israeli army officers ordered on Wednesday three families in Hemsa al-Fawqa hamlet in the northern Jordan Valley to leave their homes the next day from 10:30 am to 05:00 pm due to military exercises.
10 other Bedouin families were also told to evacuate homes on the same day in Ras al-Ahmar hamlet near Tamun for the same reason.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army closed yesterday the Tubas-Jordan Valley road and deployed several military in the area as part of preparations for the drills.
Israel’s racist policy in the Jordan Valley turns vast areas into military training fields and treats the Palestinian natives living there as beings having no rights.
Israel chooses training grounds selectively. Training never takes place close to settlements in the Jordan Valley in order to avoid putting Jewish settlers in danger or disrupt their lives.
Israeli bulldozers demolished two houses in Bedouin villages unrecognized by Israel in the southern Negev region, Wednesday morning.
Local sources said that forces from the Yoav, the special Israeli police unit created to implement demolitions of Bedouin homes in the Negev, escorted by Israeli bulldozers, demolished a house in the village of Atir, and another house that belongs to the al-Jamaaen family, in the village of Sawah.
Israeli bulldozers also leveled an agricultural field belonging to the al-Atrash family, in Maulida village.
An Israeli police spokesperson said they were “looking into reports,” according to Ma’an News Agency.
Sawah and Atir are among 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the Israeli state. Last month, the village of al-Araqib was demolished for the 105th time.
According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), more than half of the approximately 160,000 Negev Bedouins reside in unrecognized villages.
While Bedouins of the Negev are Israeli citizens, the villages unrecognized by the government have faced relentless efforts by the Israeli authorities to expel them from their lands in order to make room for Jewish Israeli homes.
The classification of their villages as “unrecognized” prevents Bedouins from developing or expanding their communities, as their villages are considered illegal by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities have also refused to connect unrecognized Bedouin villages to the national water and electricity grids, while excluding the communities from access to health and educational services, and basic infrastructure.
Rights groups have claimed that the demolitions in unrecognized Bedouin villages is a central Israeli policy aimed at removing the indigenous Palestinian population from the Negev, and transferring them to government-zoned townships, to make room for the expansion of Jewish Israeli communities.
Indigenous rights groups have also pointed out that the transfer of the Bedouins into densely populated townships also removes them from their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyles which is dependent on access to a wide range of grazing land for their animals.
In related news, Israeli authorities also carried out three demolitions in the villages of al-Nabi Samwil and al-Khalayleh in the occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem, on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, said that “enforcement measures” were carried out against two buildings and a structure under construction in the two villages for being built without Israeli-issued permits.
WAFA reported that two of the buildings were car washes.
Al-Nabi Samwil and al-Khalayleh are located in Area C, the 60 percent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli military control.
Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in Area C, forcing most Palestinians to build without permits.
All building in Area C, whether by Palestinians or Jewish settlers, comes under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Civil Administration, which has full control over all zoning and planning issues.
In practice, almost all Palestinian applications for a building permit are rejected, with the Civil Administration granting only a handful of permits.
Demolitions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have seen an unprecedented surge this year, with the number of structures demolished in the first half of 2016 well exceeding the total number of demolitions carried out in all of 2015.
More than 1,569 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of 2016 as a result of demolitions in the occupied territory, compared to 688 Palestinians displaced over the entirety of 2015, according to UN documentation.
Local sources said that forces from the Yoav, the special Israeli police unit created to implement demolitions of Bedouin homes in the Negev, escorted by Israeli bulldozers, demolished a house in the village of Atir, and another house that belongs to the al-Jamaaen family, in the village of Sawah.
Israeli bulldozers also leveled an agricultural field belonging to the al-Atrash family, in Maulida village.
An Israeli police spokesperson said they were “looking into reports,” according to Ma’an News Agency.
Sawah and Atir are among 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the Israeli state. Last month, the village of al-Araqib was demolished for the 105th time.
According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), more than half of the approximately 160,000 Negev Bedouins reside in unrecognized villages.
While Bedouins of the Negev are Israeli citizens, the villages unrecognized by the government have faced relentless efforts by the Israeli authorities to expel them from their lands in order to make room for Jewish Israeli homes.
The classification of their villages as “unrecognized” prevents Bedouins from developing or expanding their communities, as their villages are considered illegal by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities have also refused to connect unrecognized Bedouin villages to the national water and electricity grids, while excluding the communities from access to health and educational services, and basic infrastructure.
Rights groups have claimed that the demolitions in unrecognized Bedouin villages is a central Israeli policy aimed at removing the indigenous Palestinian population from the Negev, and transferring them to government-zoned townships, to make room for the expansion of Jewish Israeli communities.
Indigenous rights groups have also pointed out that the transfer of the Bedouins into densely populated townships also removes them from their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyles which is dependent on access to a wide range of grazing land for their animals.
In related news, Israeli authorities also carried out three demolitions in the villages of al-Nabi Samwil and al-Khalayleh in the occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem, on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, said that “enforcement measures” were carried out against two buildings and a structure under construction in the two villages for being built without Israeli-issued permits.
WAFA reported that two of the buildings were car washes.
Al-Nabi Samwil and al-Khalayleh are located in Area C, the 60 percent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli military control.
Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in Area C, forcing most Palestinians to build without permits.
All building in Area C, whether by Palestinians or Jewish settlers, comes under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Civil Administration, which has full control over all zoning and planning issues.
In practice, almost all Palestinian applications for a building permit are rejected, with the Civil Administration granting only a handful of permits.
Demolitions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have seen an unprecedented surge this year, with the number of structures demolished in the first half of 2016 well exceeding the total number of demolitions carried out in all of 2015.
More than 1,569 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of 2016 as a result of demolitions in the occupied territory, compared to 688 Palestinians displaced over the entirety of 2015, according to UN documentation.
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