At around 9:00 A.M. yesterday, 20 March 2019, Civil Administration personnel came with a military and Border Police escort and two bulldozers to the Palestinian community of Khirbet a-Tuba in the area of Masafer Yatta, which lies in the South Hebron Hills. The force demolished a tin-roofed concrete house that was home to a family of six, one of them a child. It also confiscated a water tank, three solar panels and related equipment from the same family. The force then continued south to the Palestinian community of Maghayir al-'Abid, where it demolished a livestock pen at around 11:00 A.M., and further south to Khirbet al-Halawah, demolishing a house built of blocks and wooden panels that was home to a family of three, including a child, and also a mosque made of mud and stones.
At around 9:00 A.M. on Monday, 18 March 2019, Civil Administration officials came with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer to the Palestinian community of Khirbet Susiya in in the South Hebron Hills and demolished a rainwater cistern that a resident of Yatta was digging on his farmland.
This morning, Tuesday, 13 March 2019, at around 10:00 A.M., Civil Administration officials came with a military jeep escort to Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley. The force served the community with stop-work orders for tents and shacks that are home to five families - numbering 19 people, 10 of them children - and for about 20 livestock pens. They also confiscated a tractor from a Tubas farmer who cultivates land within the confines of the community, on the grounds that he had entered a closed military zone.
11 March 2019منطقة شعب البطن, Kh. Wadi Ejheish, Khallet al-Mayah, Mantiqat She'b al-Batem, Kh. Wadi Ejheish, Khallet Mayah, She'b al-Batem
This morning (Monday, 11 March 2019), at around 9:00 A.M, Israeli soldiers came to the South Hebron Hills, bringing a bulldozer. They piled up boulders, sandpiles and concrete blocks to block access from Route 317 onto two roads that lead to the community of She’b al-Batem. Earlier this year, in January and February, the Civil Administration had already dug deep trenches to block these roads from the east. Also this morning, the troops similarly blocked side roads leading to the nearby communities of Khallet al-Mayah, Khirbet Wadi Ejheish and al-Kharabah.
7 March 2019خ. الفخيت, Kh. al-Fakhit, Kh. al-Fakhit
Today, Thursday, 7 March 2019, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a tractor, accompanied by a military jeep escort and Border Police officers, to Khirbet al-Fakhit in Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills. The officials confiscated a tent that was home to a family of eight, four of them children, part of the year. They then went east to Khirbet al-Maghaz, where they confiscated another tent that was also the seasonal home of a family of five, two of them children. After that, the force continued east to Khirbet a-Duqeiqah, where they confiscated three tents that were seasonal homes to an extended family of sixteen, four of them children, and a tent that served as a livestock pen.
19 February 2019Kh. a-Ras al-Ahmar, Kh. a-Ras al-Ahmar
Today, Tuesday, 19 February 2019, Civil Administration officials came with soldiers to Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley. The force demolished two residential tents. One was home to a family of four and the other to one person. The force also demolished six tents that were used as a livestock pen, as well as a livestock paddock.
Today, Wednesday, 13 February 2019, at around 8:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military-jeep and Border Police escort to a site near the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The forces, which also had two crane trucks and a digger, unearthed a five kilometer stretch of pipe which was laid about two months ago to supply water to twelve communities in the area with a total population of more than 1,000. The residents previously relied on water supplied by tankers. The Israeli forces cut the pipe and confiscated it. Israel laid water infrastructure, using the water company Mekorot, throughout the South Hebron Hills, to supply water to settlements and outposts and their agricultural projects such as dairy farms, greenhouses and vineyards. This infrastructure runs near the Palestinian villages, but, with the exception of Khirbet a-Tuwani, the Civil Administration never connected the villages to this infrastructure. Other villages in the area have had to store rain water in cisterns or buy tanker-delivered water. The Civil Administration has issued demolition orders for many of the water cisterns, claiming they had been built without permits, even though some of them date back to the British mandate. About two months ago, residents of a-Tuwani allowed neighboring communities to connect to their water pipe, and today, Israel confiscated the pipe and cut off the water supply. Withholding the water supply is yet another step in 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.
On Wednesday, 13 February 2019, at around 8:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military-jeep and Border Police escort to a site near the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The forces, which also had two crane trucks and a digger, unearthed a five kilometer stretch of pipe which was laid about two months ago to supply water to twelve communities in the area with a total population of more than 1,000. The residents previously relied on water supplied by tankers. The Israeli forces cut the pipe and confiscated it. Israel laid water infrastructure, using the water company Mekorot, throughout the South Hebron Hills, to supply water to settlements and outposts and their agricultural projects such as dairy farms, greenhouses and vineyards. This infrastructure runs near the Palestinian villages, but, with the exception of Khirbet a-Tuwani, the Civil Administration never connected the villages to this infrastructure. Other villages in the area have had to store rain water in cisterns or buy tanker-delivered water. The Civil Administration has issued demolition orders for many of the water cisterns, claiming they had been built without permits, even though some of them date back to the British mandate. About two months ago, residents of a-Tuwani allowed neighboring communities to connect to their water pipe, and today, Israel confiscated the pipe and cut off the water supply. Withholding the water supply is yet another step in 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.
13 February 2019منطقة شعب البطن, Mantiqat She'b al-Batem, She'b al-Batem
On 31 January 2019, the Israeli Civil Administration dug up the road linking the community of She’b al-Batem with the rest of the communities in Masafer Yatta (Greater Yatta) in the South Hebron Hills. Two days later, the local residents repaired the road. Yesterday (Monday, 11 February 2019), at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel returned with a Border Police and military escort. They brought a bulldozer and a tractor and re-dug a deep trench across the road.
Yesterday, Wednesday, 6 February 2019, at around 10:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a military-jeep escort to the Palestinian communities of: Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Burj, Khirbet al-Malih and 'Ein al-Meyteh in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces instructed more than 50 families numbering a total of 291 people, including 154 children, to leave their homes by 5:00 PM. The instructions came after on Sunday, 3 February 2019, at around 10:00 AM, the families were handed orders for temporary evacuation on two dates: yesterday, 6 February 2019 and 13 February 2019 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Yesterday, in Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar, the forces ordered three families to leave two hours before the time stated in the order. The three families, and the remaining families in the community who left at 10:00 AM had to walk for six kilometers to Khirbet ‘Atuf. In the other three communities, residents used tractors and tractor trailers, some going to Kafr ‘Aqabah and some to Khirbet ‘Ein al-Hilwa. After the families left, the military set up roadblocks at the entrance to Kafr ‘Aqabah and near Khirbet al-Malih, preventing travel between Jordan Valley communities and the city of Tubas for several hours. The military held training exercises with infantry units and dozens of tanks that fired shells.
3 February 2019منطقة شعب البطن, Mantiqat She'b al-Batem, She'b al-Batem
On the morning of Thursday, 31 January 2019, at around 8:00 A.M., Israeli Civil Administration personnel came with a Border Police escort to the region of Masafer Yatta (Greater Yatta) in the South Hebron Hills. They brought a bulldozer and a tractor which they used to dig a deep trench across the road that connects the community of She’b al-Batem with the rest of the Masafer Yatta communities. The Israeli military had already torn up the road a year earlier, in late 2017, and the residents then repaved it. These travel restrictions are but another step in a long saga of harassment by the authorities against the local residents, adopted in an effort to drive them out of their homes and the area.
Yesterday, Wednesday, 16 January 2019, at around 7:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel came with a digger and a military-jeep escort to the Palestinian community of Fasayil al-Wasta in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished a caravan housing a six-person family, including four children, and a concrete structure the family was using for a kitchen and bathroom. The forces later arrived at a-Nuwei’mah a-Tahta in northern Jericho, where they demolished a vacant, tin-roofed concrete structure slated to house a six-person family, including four children, who were living in tents in the interim, as well as a livestock pen.
Demolition of homes in the town of Sa’ir. Photo by Nasser Nawaj’ah, B’Tselem, 5 August 2021
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
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Residents of the al-Ka’abneh Mu’arrajat community after the demolition. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 5 August 2021
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
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Demolitions in Hizma. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 5 August 2021
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.
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The family’s belongings after the demolition in al-Qanub. Photo by Nasser Nawaj’ah, B’Tselem, 4 August 2021
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.
