Facing Expulsion

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.

On Monday morning, 19 October 2020, at around 10:00 A.M., soldiers came with a bulldozer to the community of Khallet Khader in the area of al-Farisiyah in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished a tin-roofed cinderblock structure that was home to a family of three, including one child. The Civil Administration had delivered the family a demolition order by power of Military Order 1797 on 13 October. The forces also confiscated a generator and a private car from the family, and demolished a water reservoir used for the community’s livestock.

Khallet Khader lies in the area of al-Farisiyah, which the Israeli military designated a firing zone, near the settlements of Shadmot Mehola and Rotem. The residents make a living as shepherds and farmers, and most live in there in certain seasons only.

On Thursday, 15 October 2020, at around 2:00 P.M., soldiers and police officers came to the community of Khirbet Tal al-Himma in the Jordan Valley. The forces confiscated a bulldozer and a truck owned by a contractor from Nablus, which were being used to carry out work for one of the community’s families, without delivering a confiscation order. The forces ordered the drivers to drive the vehicles to the adjacent settlement of Mehola.

This morning, 19 October 2020, at around 7:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort, a bulldozer and a digger to the community of Khirbet a-Rakeez in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. The forces confiscated a tent that housed a family of five, including three children. The tent was donated to the family by the a-Tuwani village council after Israel demolished their home on 30 September 2020.

From there, the forces continued south to the community of Khirbet al-Fakhit and demolished a tin-roofed cinderblock structure that housed a family of four, including one child. The home was built with international humanitarian aid. Before the forces left, they destroyed a livestock pen and a storage tent owned by the same family.

The forces continued to an area located between Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’ and Khirbet al-Mufaqarah, where they cut a 2.5-kilometer stretch of piping used to supply water to Masafer Yatta communities.

On Monday, 5 October 2020, at around 3:00 P.M., soldiers came to the village of Furush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley and confiscated a bulldozer belonging to a resident of al-Jiftlik, which was used for digging a pool on a village resident’s plot, without delivering the owner a confiscation order. The forces ordered the driver to drive the bulldozer to the al-Hamra Checkpoint, where it was towed away to an unknown destination.

On Thursday, 8 October 2020, at around 2:00 P.M., soldiers and police officers came to the village of ‘Ein al-Beida in the Jordan Valley and confiscated a grader owned by a contracting company from al-Far’ah used for leveling and repaving agricultural roads. The forces ordered the driver to drive the grader to the Brosh Habik’a military camp, again without delivering the owner a confiscation order.