TUBAS, Saturday, July 27, 2024 (WAFA) – Israeli colonists today stole a Palestinian shepherd’s herd of sheep in Khirbet Yirza locality to the east of the northern West Bank city of Tubas, according to a local activist.
Ayman Gharib said that a shepherd from the locality of Khirbet Yirza was grazing his herd of cows near the locality when a group of colonists stole his cows.
Khirbet Yirza has a population of around 150, the majority of whom are sheepherders and farmers. The village is isolated, having been cut off by the many Israeli barriers and army training camps that surround it.
The Jordan Valley, which is a fertile strip of land running west along the Jordan River, is home to about 65,000 Palestinians and makes up approximately 30% of the occupied West Bank.
Since 1967, when the Israeli army occupied the West Bank, Israel has transferred at least 11,000 of its Jewish citizens to the Jordan Valley. Some of the colonies in which they live were built almost entirely on private Palestinian land.
The Israel military has also designated about 46 percent of the Jordan Valley as a closed military zone since the beginning of the occupation in June 1967. It has been utilizing the pretext of military drills to forcefully displace Palestinian families living there as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and stifling Palestinian development in the area.
Approximately 6,200 Palestinians live in 38 communities in places earmarked for military use and have had to obtain permission from the Israeli authorities to enter and live in their communities.
In violation of international law, the Israeli occupation military not only temporarily displaces the communities regularly, but also confiscates their farmlands, and demolishes their homes and infrastructure from time to time.
Besides undergoing temporary displacement, the Palestinian families living there face a myriad of restrictions on access to resources and services. Meanwhile, Israel exploits the resources of the area and generates profit by allocating generous tracts of land and water resources for the benefit of colonists.
Israeli politicians have made it clear on several occasions that the highly strategic Jordan Valley would remain under their control in any eventuality.
K.F.