Facing Expulsion
The information in the blog reflects the latest state affairs known to us and is updated as we receive new data from the field. For more on the communities facing expulsion, click here.
Israel confiscated classroom chairs and tables at elementary school in the Palestinian community of Ras al-Tin
On 10 Sept 2020, four days after the beginning of the school year, in the early morning hours before students arrived, Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and a crane truck to the Palestinian community of Ras al-Tin, east of Ramallah. The forces confiscated tin panels from the school’s roof, 30 chairs and 12 classroom tables.
The students were forced to study under the scorching sun as they sat on the ground.
Just a week ago, on 3 September 2020, the Civil Administration confiscated ten tin panels, four cinder block pallets, 30 classroom chairs and 12 tables. On 31 August 2020, they confiscated building materials intended for further construction of the school.
Despite heatwave and pandemic, on first day of school, Israel demolishes Palestinian homes and confiscates essential equipment
On 2 Sept 2020, around 8:30 A.M., Civil Administration officials came with a Border Police escort, a bulldozer and a digger to the area of Wadi al-A'war by the community of Birin, which lies northeast of the town of Yatta. The forces demolished a room belonging to a resident of Hebron that farmers from the community use.
They forces continued south to the village of Zif, where they confiscated a gas pump and a canopy tent. From there, they went south to Khirbet Jenbah, a community in Masafer Yatta included within 'Firing Zone 918' in the South Hebron Hills. They demolished two homes used by two families in the community – 12 people, eight of them children – and a livestock pen. The forces also destroyed four solar panels and electrical equipment, leaving the family with no power source.
The community of 280 – made up of 35 families, including 140 minors – is not hooked up to a water network or power grids. Only 12 families have electricity, thanks to solar panels they either purchased or received from Palestinian aid organizations. Residents buy water in containers from nearby villages. About 50 of the children study in the village of al-Mughayir and have to travel one to three kilometers on dirt paths, on ATVs or animals, to get there.
Israel’s regime of occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end the occupation, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.