Facing Expulsion

On Tuesday, 31 August 2021, at around 7:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and a bulldozer to the community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished two residential tents, an outhouse and a clay oven (tabun) belonging to a family that lives in the community in winter. They also demolished two tents used as livestock pens and an agricultural shack. Before leaving, the forces handed demolition orders to two other families in the community.

On Wednesday, 25 August 2021, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and a bulldozer to the southern entrance to the city of Hebron and demolished a garage. From there, the forces continued to Khalet al-Furn southeast of Hebron, where they demolished agricultural terraces and uprooted some of the fruit trees on a plot of about 10 dunams. The forces then continued to Za’atut south of the village of al-Buweib, where they demolished a mosque under construction. 

On Tuesday, 24 August 2021, Israeli troops trained with heavy machinery close to homes and to the school at the entrance to the village of Tayasir in the northern Jordan Valley. The training, which endangered the residents, provoked protest. Village youths began throwing stones at the soldiers, who responded by firing tear gas canisters at them and at the school. Some of the youths suffered gas inhalation and were taken to the local hospital.

On Sunday, 15 August 2021, the Israeli military began training in various parts of the Jordan Valley. The forces, which included tanks, spread out in the communities of Khirbet Samrah, al Farisiyah, al-Burj, Khirbet al-Malih and other places in the area, and prevented shepherds from grazing their herds. The maneuvers, which included shelling, ended on the afternoon of Thursday, 19 August 2021. During the training that day, several shells hit the Khirbet Jabaris area southeast of Khirbet Ibzik, destroying a tent used as a rest stop for shepherds.

On Monday, 16 August 2021, Civil Administration personnel came to the community of Khirbet Ibzik and informed one of the families that they had to vacate their home on 22, 25 and 31 August, for two days at a time, due to military training planned in their area of residence. In addition, two families from the community received stop-work orders for two tents they owned.

The military’s training routine in the Jordan Valley is part of Israel’s long-standing policy that endangers the lives of residents and harms their livelihood. The policy aims to make the lives of Palestinian communities unbearable and force them out, ostensibly of their own free will.

On Monday, 16 August 2021, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and two bulldozers at the Khirbet ‘Atuf area in the northern Jordan Valley. They demolished a dirt road that connected the community to the agricultural area. In addition, they demolished an agricultural structure belonging to one of the community’s farmers. From there, the forces continued north to the village of Bardalah, where they cut down some 100 olive trees.

Today, Wednesday, 11 August 2021, at around 7:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort, a bulldozer and digger to the community of Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’ in Masafer Yatta, an area in the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished a cistern used by area farmers to irrigate crops.

From there, the forces continued southeast to Khirbet al-Fakhit, where they demolished a livestock enclosure and an agricultural shack. The forces then returned to Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’ and demolished a tin-roofed cement structure that housed a family of 11, including 5 minors.

The forces then continued to the Za’atut area, east of the village of al-Buweib, where they destroyed a cement fence erected by the residents around a farm under construction, as well as a tent used by the workers and two cisterns.

75 People, 47 of them minors, were left homeless by the demolitions

5 August 2021: Israel demolishes homes and agricultural structures near Jericho and Hebron

On Thursday morning, 5 August 2021, at around 6:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort and a crane truck to the al-Ka’abneh community in Badu al-Mu’arrajat, west of Jericho. The forces dismantled and confiscated two tents that were home to a family of 10, including six minors, as well as two livestock pens belonging to the family. On 7 June 2021, the Civil Administration demolished structures owned by the family and by the father’s two brothers.

From there, the forces continued to another residential compound of the al-Ka’abneh tribe, where they demolished a shack that was home to 17 people, including 14 minors, and razed land around the house.

The forces then continued to the Ramon al-Mu’arrajat area. There, they demolished four ancient wells renovated in 2015 with funding by the Italian nonprofit GVC. The wells were used by 12 local families for drinking and farming.

That morning, around 7:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel also came with a military and Border Police escort and four bulldozers to the town of Sa’ir in Hebron District, where they demolished two two-story residential buildings, both unoccupied. At the end of the demolition, young Palestinians began throwing stones at the soldiers and police officers, who hurled tear gas canisters and fired rubber-coated metal bullets at them.    

4 August 2021: Israel demolishes homes, shops and agricultural structures in Jordan Valley, near Jerusalem and in Sabastiya

On Wednesday, 4 August 2021, at 3:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel came with a Border Police escort, a bulldozer and cranes to the village of Hizma northeast of Jerusalem, which lies mostly within Area C. The forces demolished 13 shops made of concrete with tin roofs, including a hardware store, an auto parts shop and a grocery store. They also demolished the fence of a nearby house and a car wash.

At 11:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort and a bulldozer to the western side of Sabastiya, a town that lies northwest of Nablus. The forces demolished a tin-roofed concrete structure used for agricultural storage and a room used as a rest stop for farmers.

At midday, after carrying out demolitions in Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley, the forces continued south to the community of Zra’ ‘Awad (al-Mukasar), where they demolished a tin-roofed concrete structure belonging to a family of 15, including six minors.

At around midday, Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort and a truck to the al-Qanub area, east of Sa’ir in Hebron District. They demolished a tent belonging to a family of eight, including four minors, and a water container for livestock.

At around 1:30 P.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort to the Wadi Rahal area south of Bethlehem and demolished a tin-rooefd structure used for storage and as a rest stop for farmers.

This morning, Wednesday, 4 Aug. 2021, at around 7:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort, laborers, a bulldozer and a crane truck to the community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces dismantled and confiscated structures owned by 3 families numbering 25 people in total, 17 of them minors: 4 residential tents, 7 tents used as livestock enclosures and 3 livestock pens. The forces also demolished two generators, two solar panels, parts of a third solar panel and two cars belonging to community residents.

The families were left homeless under the blazing sun in the height of a heat wave.

On Thursday, 15 July 2021, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort, a bulldozer, and a crane truck to an area of Humsah al-Foqa, where nine families who were expelled from their homes last week have relocated for the time being. The forces confiscated a tent put up by one of the families, numbering 11 people, including six minors, at a certain distance from the other tents.

Later that day, at around 9:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military escort and a bulldozer to the village of Furush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley, where they demolished a pool set up by the local council about a year ago to provide residents with water for domestic and agricultural use. The floodwaters created during the demolition hit nearby livestock enclosures, killing one of the rams.

On Wednesday, 14 July 2021, at around 5:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and 10 crane trucks to the al-Qabun area, where some residents of the Ras a-Tin community stay during the summer. The site is about two kilometers north of the community’s permanent residence, which lies east of Ramallah. The forces declared the area a closed military zone, denied access to journalists, and began dismantling and confiscated 16 residential structures, 19 livestock enclosures, 45 solar panels, seven mobile water containers, and two tractors belonging to 13 families, numbering 84 people in total, including 54 minors.

Filmed by: Fares K'aabneh