HEBRON, October 29, 2014 – (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday demolished
several structures used for housing and livestock and a traditional oven in Yatta
to the south of Hebron and Jerusalem districts, said a local activist.
A large Israeli force broke into Khashem al-Daraj, backed with
bulldozers and military jeeps, cordoned off the area and demolished a
residential structure, cave, an out-door toilet facility and livestock shed, which all belong to Mustafa , Mousa and
Eid al-Tibni, said Rateb Jabour, coordinator of local anti-wall and settlement
committee.
Jabour slammed the demolition as an ‘arbitrary acts of revenge’ perpetrated as part of Israeli plans to displace the Palestinians and replace them with illegal Israeli settlers.
Meanwhile, forces demolished a traditional oven (Tabon) in the
village of Umm al-Khair to the east of Yatta under the pretext of causing
disturbance to settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Karmiel’.
Jabour reported that Israeli forces demolished a traditional oven
for the second time in just a week under the pretext of unlicensed building.
They brutally assaulted anyone who attempted to confront them and prevent demolition
of the oven, inflicting wounds and bruises to several locals.
The oven provides bread for the family that owns it as well as
other members of al-Hathalin family.
Israeli settlers have frequently harassed the Palestinian locals. Last
February, a settler from the illegal settlement of ‘Karmiel’ filed a lawsuit,
claiming that he along with his family suffer from the smoke emitted from the
oven and requested a compensation of about $72,000.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Israeli police, accompanied by West
Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers broke into Silwan and demolished the façade
of a cave used as a shelter by a Palestinian family.
The cave is located in a plot of land that belongs to Khaled
al-Zir, who together with his family were forced to take shelter in the cave
following the demolition of their house under the pretext of unlicensed
building.
Khaled and his relative, Fahmi, were both brutally assaulted and arrested after confronting the troops in an attempt to stop the demolition process.
According to the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem,
the residents of Umm al-Khair are originally Palestinian refugees who were
driven out from their original homeland of ‘Arad and Beersheva in 1948.
The residents of this village and that of Khashem al-Daraj are mainly dependent on agriculture, especially livestock rearing, for livelihood. More than 85% of the residents are engaged in agricultural activities especially keeping animals.
K.F/M.H
