The IDF has demolished houses, water tanks and olive orchards in two Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank, where some residents are at risk of imminent eviction, residents and activists said on Wednesday.
One of the villages whose structures were demolished on Tuesday is part of an arid region of the West Bank called passenger boat, designated by the Israeli military as a live-fire training area. About 1,000 residents of the eight settlements that make up Masafar Yatta are up for eviction, an order upheld by Israel’s Supreme Court in May after a two-decade legal battle.
According to photos shared by local residents and activists, armored vehicles carried construction equipment to demolition in the villages of Ma’in and Sha’ab al-Butum, which are part of Masafar Yatta.
Guy Butavia, an activist with the Israeli rights group Tayush, said the army destroyed five houses, animal enclosures and troughs.
“They come and demolish your house. it’s winter. It’s cold. What will happen next? Where are they going to sleep that night?” he said.
Most of the residents of the area have remained as well as the Israeli security forces since the ruling. roll from time to time To demolish structures. But he could be thrown out at any time.
Yesterday, Israel again confiscated a tent that served as a temporary school for the children of Khirbet-e-Safai, a Palestinian community in Masafar Yatta. , pic.twitter.com/xwkSIi1Jr3
— B’Selem B’Selem (@btselem) January 4, 2023
Local officials and rights groups said that Israeli defense officials informed them that they would soon forcibly evict more than 1,000 residents from the area.
“There is a real concern that a serious war crime will be committed,” said Ronnie Pelli, a lawyer who works with ACRI, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body that deals with Palestinian civil affairs, declined to comment.
Both villages are in the 60% of the West Bank known as Area C, where the IDF maintains full control under an interim peace deal with the Palestinians in the 1990s. Palestinian structures built without military permits – which residents say are nearly impossible to obtain – are at risk of demolition.
Palestinians stand on the remains of a school after it was demolished by the IDF in the West Bank area known as Masafar Yatta on November 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illian)
In 1979, the army acquired about 30 square kilometers (11.5 sq mi) of land and declared it Firing Zone 918. Since then, the Israeli army has sought to evict Palestinians living in eight villages located inside the firing zone, most of them in concentration camps. of low-slung houses with temporary roofs.
Local Palestinians argued that their presence preceded the firing zone, meaning they could not be expelled under Israeli law. Israeli officials countered the Palestinians’ argument and government lawyers presented satellite photos that they claim showed no residential structures on the top of the hill prior to the 1990s.
In November 1999, security forces expelled about 700 villagers and destroyed houses and troughs.
A 20-year legal battle began the next year that ended in October 2022 with the Israeli Supreme Court’s refusal to hold additional hearings on the expulsions.
While previous Israeli governments have demolished homes in the area for decades, the new government sworn in last week is expected to halt the demolition.
