Facing Expulsion

On Thursday, 24 May 2018, three Israeli Supreme Court justices – Noam Sohlberg, Anat Baron and Yael Willner – ruled that the state may demolish the homes of the community of Khan al-Ahmar, transfer the residents from their homes and relocate them. This ruling removes the last stumbling block in Israel’s way in the matter, lifting the impediment which had thus far served to defer the transfer of the community, a war crime under international law. While it is a policy shaped by the government, the justices – here as well as in other cases – pitched in and paved the road to the commission of a war crime. Personal liability for the commission of this crime will fall not only on policy-makers. Those who paved the juridical route enabling the crime are equally liable.

At 6:00 o’clock this morning (8 May 2018), Israeli Civil Administration officials and a military detail arrived at the community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley. They came to evacuate five Palestinian families from their homes from 6:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. This is the third time that these families have been displaced from their homes in the space of two weeks, allegedly for the purpose of military training. The 29 members of these families – 19 of whom are minors, including an infant and a child with Down syndrome – gathered in a secluded area to wait until they will be given permission to return home.

Yesterday, 2 May 2018, at 7:30 A.M., two Civil Administration jeeps accompanied by dozens of soldiers and two bulldozers, arrived at four neighboring communities in the Masafer Yatta area in the South Hebron Hills: Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Markez, Khirbet al-Halawah and Khirbet al-Fakhit. The forces destroyed six dwellings, five of them currently occupied and one seasonal, leaving at least 26 residents, including eight minors, homeless. The forces also destroyed a storage unit, six livestock pens and three water tanks. In Khirbet al-Markez, the forces confiscated three solar power units that had been installed by Comet-ME, each of which consisting of three solar panels and a battery. The forces arrived at Khirbet al-Markez first and then went on to Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Halawah and Khirbet al-Fakhit. Upon arrival at each of the communities, the forces declared the site a closed military zone. In Khirbet al-Halawah, clashes developed between some locals and security forces with the former throwing stones and the latter using stun grenades and tear gas. The forces arrested two of the residents.

​​​​​​​Filmed by: Nasser Nawaj'ah, 'Eid al-Hadhalin, Ahmad Jundiyah

This morning, 1 May 2018, at 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration and soldiers arrived in two jeeps at the community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley and once again temporarily removed five families from their homes, forcing them to leave their livestock untended. Yet again, the residents gathered in an isolated area about 10km from their homes; this time, the military trained there, too, maneuvering dozens of tanks and armored vehicles only several hundred meters away from where the families were gathered. The Red Crescent provided the residents with two tents for temporary shelter, until they could return home.

Soldiers, armored vehicles and tanks have been training in several locations near Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley almost every day since 5 March 2018. Daily military exercises are a living example of Israel’s policy in the Jordan Valley and in Area C overall, designed to create impossible living conditions that will drive residents of Palestinian communities to leave their homes, ostensibly by choice.

On Sunday, 22 April 2018, Civil Administration officials came to the Palestinian community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley. The settlement of Beka’ot was built near this community. The officials served five families of the extended Abu al-Kabash family with evacuation orders, allegedly for the purpose of military training due to take place in the area. The families were told to vacate their homes on three dates: 24 April, 1 May and 8 May 2018, from 6:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. each time. The five families have 29 members in total. Nineteen are minors, including a month-old infant and a child with Down syndrome. Yesterday, 24 April 2018, soldiers and Civil Administration officials arrived at the community at 6:00 A.M. and ordered the five families to leave. The adults took their sheep - herds numbering scores of animals - and walked to an open area some 10km away from their homes, near the village of al-Hadidiya. The children were taken by car to a different site where they waited until they could return home. The families were forced to leave behind, untended, two newborn lambs as they were not yet able to go out to pasture.

Soldiers, armored vehicles and tanks have been training in several locations near Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley almost every day since 5 March 2018. Daily military exercises are a living example of Israel’s policy in the Jordan Valley and in Area C overall, designed to create impossible living conditions that will drive residents of Palestinian communities to leave their homes, ostensibly by choice.

On Monday, 9 Apr. 2018, at about 9:00 PM, dozens of soldiers and Civil Administration officials came to the village of Khirbet Zanutah, which is situated to the south of the town of a-Dhahiriyah. The forces demolished a school established approximately one month ago with funding from a humanitarian aid organization. The school comprised six rooms, including five classrooms, and served 33 children in the 1st through 6th grades. The forces also confiscated a water container and toilets, leaving behind only the concrete foundations of the school building. Since 2007 the residents of Khirbet Zanutah have been waging a legal battle against the demolition orders issued by the Civil Administration on the grounds of construction without permits – despite the fact that the Civil Administration knows full well that the residents have no opportunity to obtain such permits.

Since 5 March 2018, more than two weeks ago, large Israeli forces – including infantry, tanks and armored vehicles – have been conducting military training on an almost daily basis near Palestinian communities in several areas in the northern Jordan Valley, mostly near Khirbet al- al-Malih and the village of al-Farisiyah. The troops have been training in the use of live ammunition on pastureland and other farmland indispensable to the livelihood of the local residents. In a number of cases, tanks even drove through the residential area, maneuvering among residents' homes. This morning (19 March), a military force made up of three tanks, a jeep and an armored vehicle drove mere meters away from farmers tilling their land, passing at a distance of some 150 meters from the homes of the community of Khirbet Um al-Jamal. This morning was but one more example of the daily military training routine that Israeli decision-makers impose on the people living in the Palestinian communities of the northern Jordan Valley, with a view to forcing them to leave, ostensibly of their own accord.

Since 5 March 2018, Israeli troops including infantry, tanks and other armored vehicles have been training during the day and night in the area of Khirbet al-Malih and the village of al-Farisiyah in the northern Jordan Valley. The troops train with live fire on pastureland, preventing Palestinian residents from accessing the land.

Today, 13 March, exercises began at 3:00 A.M., including at least 20 tanks and dozens of military vehicles in various areas throughout the northern Jordan Valley, including just one kilometer from homes in the village of al-Farisiyah. In the town of Tubas, residents reported hearing loud shelling. Last night, Civil Administration officials notified 16 families from Khirbet Ibziq by phone who were previously ordered to vacate their homes today, that the military exercise has been delayed. The incessant military training in the Jordan Valley is part of a longstanding policy to drive Palestinian communities to leave, as though of their own free will.

Over the last three days, 5-7 March, military forces, including scores of vehicles, tanks and other armored cars have been carrying out training exercises both during the day and at night, in several areas located near Khirbet al-Malih and the village of al-Farisiyah in the northern Jordan Valley. The exercises include use of firearms on grazing pastures, while local residents are denied access. Military bulldozers also destroyed part of a chickpea field yesterday. Today, 7 March 2018, at around 7:30 A.M., the forces arrived at nearby Khirbet Um al-Jmal, and armored vehicles and troops trained in between residents’ homes and on farmland. The military also held training exercises near Khirbet Ibziq today, where two families had evacuated their homes following orders they were given by the military on 4 March 2018. Incessant military training in the northern Jordan Valley is part of Israel’s longstanding policy aimed at making living conditions in Palestinian communities unbearable and forcing residents out, ostensibly of their own accord.

Yesterday, Sunday, 4 March 2018, at around 11:00 AM, Civil Administration personnel and soldiers arrived in two jeeps at Khirbet Ibziq, in the northern Jordan Valley, north of the city of Tubas. The officials served sixteen families with temporary evacuation orders, which stated the evacuation was needed for the purpose of military training near the families’ homes. All sixteen families were required to evacuate from seven o’clock in the morning until six o’clock in the evening next Tuesday, 13 March 2018. Two families were ordered to evacuate on three more dates, 7, 14 and 21 March 2018. Together, the sixteen families served with orders have 79 members, including 47 children.

These types of evacuation orders are part of a longstanding policy implemented by Israeli decision makers with the object of making the lives of Palestinians in communities in Area C miserable. The actions Israel takes to further this policy include denying access to basic services, destroying water and electricity infrastructure, confiscating farming equipment and holding frequent military training exercises near residents’ homes.

This policy is meant to encourage Palestinians to leave their communities, ostensibly of their accord.