Facing Expulsion

On Tuesday, 2 March 2021, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort, a bulldozer, and a digger to the community of Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe' in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished two structures housing two families numbering a total of 11 people, including seven minors. They also demolished a vacant structure still under construction.

The forces continued to Khirbet a-Rakeez, where they demolished an agricultural structure and an outhouse belonging to a family that lost two homes following demolitions in November 2020. The forces then went to the village of Zif, where they demolished a livestock pen.

On the previous day (Monday, 1 March 2021), at around 9:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort, two crane trucks, and a digger to the community of Fasayil a-Tahta in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces dismantled and confiscated two livestock pens, a water tank and an outhouse belonging to families whose homes were also demolished in November 2020.

On Wednesday morning, 10 February 2021, Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort to Khirbet a-Tawamin in the South Hebron Hills and confiscated an outhouse. They then continued to the western part of Khirbet Susiya, where they confiscated a tent that was home to a family of six, including four minors. The forces went on to Khirbet a-Rakeez, where they confiscated an outhouse and three tents, two of which were being used to host activists following the grave injury of community resident Harun Abu ‘Aram (24) at the hands of Israeli security forces on 1 January 2021. The erection of the third tent was underway. From there, the forces continued to the community of Um al-Kheir and confiscated two gas pumps. Finally, they reached the community of Khallet al-Furn, where they dismantled and confiscated a shack under construction.

On Wednesday morning, 27 January 2021, at around 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and a digger to the community of Um Qusa, which lies east of a-Zuweidin in the South Hebron Hills, and destroyed a mosque under construction that was meant to serve this community and two others in the area, al-‘Ibdiya and al-Jeras. The forces then headed south to Khirbet a-Rakeez, where they confiscated a pre-fab used by a family as an outhouse. They then went to the Farsh al-Hawa area in the city of Hebron and confiscated a pre-fab used by a resident for agricultural purposes.

Jordan Valley:

On Wednesday, 25 November 2020, at around 9:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military jeep escort, police officers, two bulldozers and a truck crane at the village of Fayasil a-Tahta in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces dismantled and confiscated the foundations of two shacks intended to house an extended family of seven, including two children. The shacks were donated to the family by a humanitarian aid organization after the Civil Administration demolished their homes last September.

Later, the forces demolished two shacks that housed a family of ten, four of them children, as well as a kitchen, a cement outhouse, and two metal-plated tin-roofed shacks that the family used to raise livestock. The forces also destroyed a fence and disconnected the shacks’ electricity grid.

In addition, the forces demolished ten shacks that were used by two families and included a toilet, fodder storage, stables, a chicken coop and tabun ovens. They also destroyed wheat and almond husks that were used as livestock fodder.

At around midday, Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military jeep escort and a crane truck at the community of Tal a-Smadi, northwest of the village of al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley. The forces dismantled and confiscated a shack that was home to a couple, as well as an outhouse and a water container donated to them by a humanitarian aid organization after the forces demolished the same structures on 21 October 2020.


Masafer Yatta, South Hebron Hills:

The same day, around 9:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with Border Police officers at the community of Khirbet a-Rakeez in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills and demolished two structures that were home to a family of six, including three children. They also demolished a structure used for agriculture that belonged to another family in the community. The forces continued south to Khirbet a-Sarurah, where they demolished an outhouse owned by a community resident. They then continued further south to the community of Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’, where they demolished two structures under construction intended for two families, numbering 11 people in total, including seven children, and another structure that contained a toilet and a kitchen.

From there, they went to the community of Mughayir al-‘Abid, where they demolished two structures used for agriculture that belonged to a community resident. The forces also cut and destroyed a two-kilometer water line servicing the communities of al-Fakhit, a-Safai, Mughayir al-‘Abid and a-Taban. The water line, donated by humanitarian organizations, cost almost 100,000 EUR to install. The Civil Administration already destroyed Masafer Yatta’s main water supply pipeline in February 2019, but it has since been restored. In October 2020, the Civil Administration destroyed a local pipeline servicing the communities of Mughayir al-‘Abid and Khirbet al-Majaz.

Finally, the forces arrived at the community of Khirbet Jenbah, where they destroyed a plastic water container a community resident placed on his farmland to water his olive grove. In order to make their way to the container, the forces uprooted four olive trees and demolished a wire fence around the plot. Some of the demolished structures were donated to the communities by humanitarian aid organizations.

The same day, Israel demolished a house under construction in a-Lubban a-Gharbiyah, Ramallah District

At around 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with soldiers, police officers and a bulldozer at the village of a-Lubban a-Gharbiyah in Ramallah District. The forces demolished the foundation of a structure under construction (a floor and posts) intended for a family of eight, including six children. They also demolished a shack owned by another resident that was used for storage. The demolitions were carried out by power of Military Order 1797.

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 Wednesday morning, 30 September 2020, at around 9:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort, a bulldozer and a digger to the community of She’b al-Batem in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished two tin-roofed cinder block structures that were home to two families, 14 people in total. The demolition left 10 children, one of them with a physical disability, homeless.

The forces continued north to the community of Khirbet a-Rakeez, where they demolished four tin-roofed cinder block structures that were home to four families numbering 17 people in total, including 10 minors and a woman with special needs. The homes demolished in both communities were built with funding from the West Bank Protection Consortium.

On thursday, 27 February 2020, at around 9:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort, military jeeps, a bulldozer and a digger to the Palestinian community of Khirbet a-Safai a-Tahta in the area of Masafer Yatta, which lies in the South Hebron Hills. About 22 people live in the community. The forces demolished a shack used as a livestock pen and an outdoor livestock enclosure owned by two members of the community.

They then proceeded westwards to Khirbet al-Mufaqarah, which is home to some 73 residents, where they demolished a tin-roofed cinderblock structure housing a family of three. From there they turned north to Khirbet a-Rakeez, home to 15 people, where they demolished another tin-roofed cinderblock structure housing a family of nine, including five children. Both residences had been donated by a humanitarian aid organization.

The demolitions were executed pursuant to Military Order 1797, which was issued in April of 2018 and removed the semblance of judicial review.

On Wednesday, 11 September 2019, at around 8:00 A.M., Israeli Civil Administration personnel arrived with soldiers, Border Police officers, a bulldozer and three diggers at the Masafer Yatta area in the South Hebron Hills. In Khirbet al-Mufaqarah, the forces demolished three pre-fabricated buildings and a tent that had housed four families, 18 people in all, including eight children. The forces also confiscated a car belonging to the Masafer Yatta Council, claiming it had entered a firing zone. From there the forces proceeded to Khirbet Sarurah where they demolished a utility structure owned by a family from Yatta who farm land in the region. They then continued southwards, to Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’, where they demolished two cinder block and concrete structures used as housing for two families with a total of nine members, including five children. The forces also demolished a water cistern belonging to one of the families.

Some of the forces also went to the community of She’b al-Batem and, for the fifth time this year, dug deep trenches and placed boulders to block access from Route 317 to two roads that serve the community’s residents to get to the town of Yatta. In addition, the forces used trenches and boulders in several locations to block off a dirt road leading from Route 317 to the communities a-Tuwani, Kh. a-Rakeez, Kh. al-Mufaqarah, Kh. Sarurah, Kh. Khilet a-Dabe’, Kh. al-Fakhit and Kh. a-Taban, impacting other communities as well. Demolitions and restrictions of movement are part of a series of abusive measures the authorities have been taking against local residents, in a bid to expel them from the area and their homes.