Facing Expulsion

This morning, 4 July 2018, Israel continued implementing its policy of transferring Palestinian communities: In Khan al-Ahmar the Civil Administration began paving an access road leading to the community to facilitate its transfer. According to reports by the Red Cross, 35 people were injured in clashes that  ensued. Four were taken to hospital and the rest were treated on site. In the nearby community of Abu a-Nuwar, the CA demolished nine homes and three farm buildings, leaving 62 people homeless. The CA came to Susiya, apparently to plan the demolition of seven structures there. Israel claims it is merely enforcing the law, on building without permits. But the residents are not criminals: Israel denies them any way of obtaining construction permits and creates unbearable living conditions, hoping they leave - ostensibly of their own volition - so that it can take over their lands. Transferring communities in a war crime; no court ruling or military order can whitewash it.

This morning (Sunday, 1 July 2018), Israeli police and Civil Administration personnel arrived at Khan al-Ahmar, the Palestinian community Israel announced it plans to transfer. The troops walked through Khan al-Ahmar, among the residents' homes, in what appeared to be preparations for the planned demolition of the community. Residents reported that a police officer told them they would be forcibly removed and that they would be better off if they left "voluntarily." The police officer declined to name the date of the transfer.

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 and transfer the residents from their homes. This ruling removes the last impediment which had thus far served to defer the transfer of the community, a war crime under international law.

On 21 June 2018, Civil Administration personnel, accompanied by military forces, arrived at the community of Khirbet Humsah, in the northern Jordan Valley and delivered temporary evacuation orders to all sixteen families living in a number of separate compounds in the community. Five of these families have been temporarily displaced four times over the last few months. The families were told to leave their homes on 26 June 2018, from six in the morning until eight in the evening on the pretext that the military needs to train in the area.
Video filmed by 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem

Yesterday, 4 June 2018, around midday, Israeli Civil Administration officials arrived at the community of Khirbet Humsah in the northern Jordan Valley and handed temporary evacuation orders to five Palestinians families who were already displaced from their homes three times in the last two months. The families were ordered to vacate their homes today, 5 June, from 6 o’clock in the morning until noon, allegedly for the purpose of military training nearby. This morning, Civil Administration officials and a military detail came to the community and accompanied the families, who evacuated on their own – some by car and others on foot. All 29 family members – 19 of whom are minors, including an infant and a child with Down syndrome – had to again go with some of their livestock to a secluded area about ten kilometers from home and wait there, maintaining the Ramadan fast with no shelter, until receiving permission to return home.

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.