By Al-Hareth Al-Husni
TOUBAS, November 21, 2016 (WAFA) - The Israeli military exercises near the homes of residents of Khirbet Ibzeiq, east of Toubas, that have been going on for years caused severe hardships for the Palestinian residents there.
The Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday informed 14 families living there to leave their homes between 3:30 Monday afternoon until 9:30 Tuesday morning. The same thing for Wednesday, which means the families have to spend two nights in the open fields during the cold nights of the desert.
Khirbet Ibzeiq is one of several small dwellings spread across the eastern slopes of the city of Toubas and which overlook the Jordan Valley. The residents depend on herding for a living, in addition to agriculture to a certain degree.
Families from the Turkman tribe have been living there for years in mud and hay shelters. They are Palestinian Bedouins.
Aref Daraghmeh, an expert in settlements, told WAFA that the occupying authority has been systemically making life difficult for the residents of these areas.
He said that in the last few years, residents of Khirbet Ibzeiq were forced to leave their homes more than 40 times in cold and harsh weather conditions.
The first time was three years ago when the families were ordered out of their homes at night so that the army can hold military training.
However, this is time is worse because the families are ordered out of their homes two nights in a row in cold weather conditions.
Hayel Turkman, one of the residents who has been living there since 1948, says he and his family were ordered to leave their homes and therefore found themselves living in caves far from the exercise area.
He was worried about how his seven children, the oldest not more than 15 years, would be able to spend the night in the wilderness. He thought of sending them to spend these two nights with relatives in the city of Jenin.
The children anyhow would not be able to go to school, which normally they have to walk 7 kilometers to reach, because they left their home without their school books.
Residents of Khirbet Ibzeiq usually spend the winter in their dwelling and the summer in the Jenin valleys where water is more abundant. However, in the last three years they preferred to stay in their dwelling after water was made available.
But on Sunday, the occupation authority was not satisfied with ordering the residents to leave their homes, it also confiscated an agricultural tractor owned by one of the residents even though he was not anywhere close to the training area.
M.A.
