ISRAELI FORCES DEMOLISH PALESTINIAN HOMES IN JORDAN VALLEY 01-07-2013,10:30 Al Qassam / Agencies- Occupied Territories Israeli forces have demolished a number of Palestinian houses and structures in the Jordan Valley, as Tel Aviv continues efforts to expand its illegal settlements, Press TV reports. Israeli forces raided the village of Faqeh near the city of Jericho, destroying a number of houses. Nearly 50,000 Palestinians live in the part of the Jordan Valley that lies inside the West Bank. The city of Jericho is one of the many permanent Palestinian communities in the area. Residents say the latest incident is part of an ethnic cleansing process in which Israel plans to remove Palestinians and claim the entire Jordan Valley. “We were shocked when Israeli forces evacuated the children and women and dumped our stuff outside, and bulldozers started demolishing our houses,” Sliman Mohammad Zaid, a villager in the Jordan Valley, said. He noted that the demolition took place early in the morning while all residents were asleep, adding, “They knocked down all three houses. When we demanded demolition orders, they refused to show us.” They say although residents were given warning not to build in the area in 2010, demolition orders were not issued. The residents say they are now living in tents. Israel occupied the West Bank as well as East al-Quds (Jerusalem), which Palestinians consider the capital of their homeland, during the Six-Day War in 1967. More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds 46 years ago. The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in the war of 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands. The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts made to establish peace in the Middle East. Earlier in June, Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said the idea of a two-state solution had reached a “dead end,” and that Tel Aviv should build more settler units. A report released last month revealed that the Israeli regime confiscated 1,977 acres of the Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank for its settlement activity in 2012 alone.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 08:59:43 +0000
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