TUBAS, February 11, 2016 (WAFA) - Israeli forces Thursday morning demolished some residential structures and barracks in Khallet Khader near Al-Farisiya, a village to the east of Tubas, in the northern Jordan Valley, said a local activist.
Escorting a bulldozer, Israeli forces broke into and cordoned off Khallet Khader locality, preventing locals from approaching structures slated for demolition.
WAFA reported Mu‘taz Bsharat, who monitors settlement activities in Tubas district, as saying that forces leveled afterwards five residential structures, tents and barracks (live stock barns), displacing homeowners.
Bordered by the Jordan River to the east, al-Farisya has a population of about 300 Palestinians and occupied a total area of 7,200 dunums, including 200 dunums classified as built-up areas, 2000 dunums for agricultural use, 2500 for forests and open spaces.
Based on data provided by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), as much as 90% of the villagers are involved in agriculture for their livelihood, relying on livestock and plant production, such as vegetables and crops.
Israel has seized about 2,500 dunums, including 300 dunums that were confiscated during the second intifada. The village is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlements of Rotem, also known as Nahal Rotem, from the east and Shedmot Mehola from the northeast.
Israeli forces have frequently demolished residential structures, including tents, and seize water tanks for the villagers as a means to forcefully displace them and confiscate their lands for settlement construction.
Having no other choice, many Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, under complete Israeli control, are forced to build without permits to be able to provide a shelter for their families, risking having their buildings demolished in the process.
Israel is planning to annex the Jordan Valley into a completely Israeli area, primarily in agriculture, targeting to ban territorial contiguity between a future Palestinian state and the rest of the Arab world.
To this end, tens of settlements and agricultural outposts have been established by Israel in the Valley, which makes up about one-third of the total area of the occupied West Bank.
Humanitarian and legal bodies and institutions such as the United Nations, OCHA and B’Tselem confirm that the planning policies applied by Israel in Area C and East Jerusalem discriminate against Palestinians, making it extremely difficult for them to obtain building permits.
“As a result, many Palestinians build without permits to meet their housing needs and risk having their structures demolished. Palestinians must have the opportunity to participate in a fair and equitable planning system that ensures their needs are met,” OCHA reports.
K.F/M.H
