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Residents evacuated from Khirbet Ibzik during training in December 2016. Photo: Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem
Yesterday, Sunday, 4 March 2018, at around 11:00 AM, Civil Administration personnel and soldiers arrived in two jeeps at Khirbet Ibziq, in the northern Jordan Valley, north of the city of Tubas. The officials served sixteen families with temporary evacuation orders, which stated the evacuation was needed for the purpose of military training near the families’ homes. All sixteen families were required to evacuate from seven o’clock in the morning until six o’clock in the evening next Tuesday, 13 March 2018. Two families were ordered to evacuate on three more dates, 7, 14 and 21 March 2018. Together, the sixteen families served with orders have 79 members, including 47 children.
These types of evacuation orders are part of a longstanding policy implemented by Israeli decision makers with the object of making the lives of Palestinians in communities in Area C miserable. The actions Israel takes to further this policy include denying access to basic services, destroying water and electricity infrastructure, confiscating farming equipment and holding frequent military training exercises near residents’ homes.
This policy is meant to encourage Palestinians to leave their communities, ostensibly of their accord.
