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Israel army expels 15 Palestinian families from Jordan Valley

May 14, 2019 at 1:18 pm

Israeli military tanks are seen stationed in the Jordan Valley during a military training exercise on 6 May 2015 [Shadi Hatem/Apaimages]

Israeli occupation forces on Sunday evicted 15 Palestinian families from their homes in Khirbet Hamsa Al-Fawqa in the northern Jordan Valley, east of the occupied West Bank.

The forces claimed that the area would be used for military training, which would take place three days a week over a period of three weeks.

Waleed Assaf, head of the National Committee to Resist the Wall and Settlements, said the eviction is part of Israel’s continuous harassment of the population as a prelude to force them to completely leave the area.

Assaf explained that the Israeli authorities want to displace the residents in order to control these areas.

READ: Israel to seize hundreds of dunams in Jordan Valley

“Some 98 citizens have no place to go and are left to live in catastrophic and difficult situations,” Assaf said, explaining that the committee tried through its lawyers to prevent the eviction, but the Israeli authorities are had issued military orders for the evacuation.

The ​​East Tubas area which was evacuated is similar in its landscape to South Lebanon; making it a suitable for training Israeli occupation forces.

The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli military control, despite being within the West Bank. Meanwhile, at least 44 per cent of the total land in the Jordan Valley has been reappropriated by Israeli forces for military purposes and training exercises.