TUBAS, Friday, December 14, 2018 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation authorities on Friday ordered 14 Palestinian families from the village of Ebzeiq, in the northern Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, to leave their homes to make way for Israeli military training in the area.

Muataz Besharat, who monitors Israeli violations in the area, told WAFA that Israeli army handed notices to the 14 families ordering them to leave their homes on December 16, 23, 26 and 31 from 6:00am to 2:00pm (local time) on some days and from 12:00am to 60:00am on other days, to make way for the training.

The Jordan Valley forms a third of the occupied West Bank, with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C – under full Israeli military control.

Nearly 20 percent of the occupied West Bank has been declared "firing zones" since the 1970s, but according to the UN, some 80 percent of these areas are not in fact used for military training.

However, when military training takes place, Israel forces families to leave their homes for hours or days at a time until the drill is over.

M.N