JORDAN VALLEY, April 30, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces
Thursday notified about 50 Palestinian families of its intention to forcibly
displace them in order to make room for Israeli military drills across the
Jordan Valley, said a municipal source.
Head of al-Maleh Village Council ‘Aref Daraghmeh told WAFA
that Israeli forces has ordered about 50 families to leave their localities in
order to make room for Israeli military drills.
The families comprise of 27 families living in al-Burj and
Hamamat al-Maleh areas, 10 others in Ibziq, to the north of Tubas, and 10 more
others in Humsa, a locality of al-Bika‘ia or Tammun in the northeastern part of
the West Bank.
Left with no place to go, the families will be
living in open areas until they will be allowed to return to their homes,
Daraghmeh added.
According to data obtained from the Applied Research
Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), al-Bika‘ia occupied a total area of about 30,000
dunums distributed over three localities, including Humsa, which occupied 400
dunums. The localities have a high agricultural potential with plentiful supply
of grazing land and water availability.
The overwhelming majority of the population depends on
agriculture for living, mainly farming and livestock. However, it has become
increasingly difficult for them to access their grazing lands and market their
products because of Israeli restrictions.
According to ARIJ, since 1967 the Israeli occupation seized
14,000 dunums, 10,000 of those were confiscated since the break of the second
Intifada for the purposes of construction of segregation wall.
Israeli forces have frequently prevented farmers' access to
their lands by placing checkpoints, barriers and declaring areas as military
training zones. Large tracts of agricultural lands have been seized and
isolated from the localities for the construction of the wall and building
settlements.
Israeli forces have also frequently conducted military drills
in the areas as a part of an international policy aimed to force locals to
eventually leave their homes and relocate somewhere else.
Israel seeks to to empty the Jordan Valley, which makes
around 40% of the West Bank area, from its Palestinian inhabitants with a goal
to take it over and eventually annex it to Israel.
K.F./ T.R.