Facing Expulsion

On Sunday afternoon, 15 November 2020, soldiers arrived in a military jeep at the area of Khirbet Um al-Jamal in the northern Jordan Valley and detained a resident of Tubas and two residents of Ramallah who had set up a tent in solidarity with the local villagers. The soldiers took the three to a military camp southeast of Khirbet Samrah, where they were detained for around two hours and released. The Tubas resident’s car was confiscated.

That evening, soldiers arrived at farmland in two areas known as a-Rawaq and Midan al-‘Abed , east of al-Hadidiyah in the northern Jordan Valley, and confiscated four tractors being used to cultivate the land of families from Tubas. Three of the tractors belong to a resident of Tubas and the fourth to a resident of Khallet Makhul. The soldiers ordered the drivers to take the vehicles to the settlement of Ro’i, and from there to a military camp east of Khirbet Samrah.

On Tuesday night, 3 November 2020, at around 10:00 P.M., Civil Administration personnel came with dozens of soldiers to the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibzik in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces blocked the entrances to the community and spread out among the homes. They stayed in the area until 9:00 A.M. and confiscated nine tractors, five water containers, five utility trailers, and two cars of residents.

On 3 November 2020, at around 11:00 A.M., the Civil Administration came with a military escort, two bulldozers and two diggers to the community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished 18 tents and sheds that housed 11 families, numbering 74 people in total, 41 of them minors. The forces also demolished 29 tents and sheds used as livestock enclosures, three storage sheds, nine tents used as kitchens, 10 portable toilets, 10 livestock pens, 23 water containers, two solar panels, and feeding and watering troughs for livestock. They also destroyed more than 30 tons of fodder for livestock and confiscated a vehicle and two tractors belonging to three residents.

On Monday morning, 2 November 2020, Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer to the area of Ghzewi, east of Khirbet Susiya in the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished a home under construction that was intended to house a family of seven – a mother and six children under the age of 18. The demolition was carried out by power of Military Order 1797.

On Sunday, 1 November 2020, at around 10:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived at the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibziq in the Jordan Valley. The forces delivered a warning order to desist from “antiquity destruction” for tents owned by one of the residents. They continued to the community’s school, where they ordered the council head to remove a bus that was donated to the community to serve as a classroom or for storage, under threat of confiscation.

In the afternoon, Civil Administration personnel arrived at the village of Furush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley. They confiscated a digger owned by a resident of Marj Na’jah that area farmers were using to build a reservoir. The forces drove the digger to the al-Hamra checkpoint.

In the evening, a military jeep arrived at the area of Jabaris, west of the village of ‘Ein al-Beida. The soldiers confiscated a tractor owned by a village resident and drove it to a settlement. From there it was transferred to the Brosh Habik’a military camp.

This morning, Wednesday, 28 October 2020, at around 7:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort to the community of Wadi Abu al-Hindy in al-Quds District, southeast of the town of al-‘Eizariyah. The forces dismantled and confiscated a wooden and tin structure intended as a couple’s home.
The forces later continued to the community of al-Muntar, where they dismantled and confiscated two wooden and tin structures, one intended as a couple’s home and another as a seasonal residence for a family of five from a-Sawahrah.

Today, Wednesday, 28 October 2020, at around 10:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military jeep and a digger to the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills. The forces dug up and destroyed a 1.5 kilometer stretch of piping, thereby cutting off the water supply to the communities of Maghayir al-‘Abid and Khirbet al-Majaz. The forces later continued to the area of Khirbet al-Fakhit, where they unearthed a water pipe but left without destroying it.

Today, Tuesday morning, 27 October 2020, Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer to the Palestinian community of Birin, northeast of the town of Yatta in Hebron District. The forces demolished a stone house that was home to a family of five, including three children. The demolition was carried out by power of Military Order 1797. The forces also demolished a cistern belonging to the family.

On Wednesday morning, 21 October 2020, Civil Administration personnel came with a military jeep and a crane truck to the community of Tal a-Smadi, which lies northwest of the village of al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley. The forces dismantled and confiscated an outhouse, a plastic water container and a shack that was home to a couple. All three structures were donated to the couple by a humanitarian aid organization after the Civil Administration demolished their home on 30 September 2020.