Israel razes Palestinian Bedouin village for second time

Israeli authorities said the village of Khirbet Humsah in the Jordan Valley, which housed 74 Palestinians including 41 minors, had been constructed illegally on a military firing range and locals rejected their offer to move nearby

Reuters|
Israel has begun demolishing a Bedouin village in the West Bank for the second time in three months, in what a rights group called an attempt to displace an entire Palestinian community from the area.
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  • Israeli authorities said the village of Khirbet Humsah, in the northern West Bank's Jordan Valley, had been constructed illegally on a military firing range, and that residents had rejected their offer to move to a nearby area.
    3 View gallery
    n Israeli truck carrying dismantled structures and tents belonging to Palestinians is seen as Israeli soldiers keep guard in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    n Israeli truck carrying dismantled structures and tents belonging to Palestinians is seen as Israeli soldiers keep guard in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    An Israeli truck carrying dismantled structures in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    (Photo: Reuters)
    Khirbet Humsah's 130 inhabitants have vowed to stay, with some sleeping on mattresses and plastic tarps strewn on the rocky soil. Tented homes and animal shelters in the village were last razed in November, though residents returned soon after.
    "We will not move from here, we will stay here. If they demolish, we will rebuild," said one of the residents, Ibrahim Abu Awad. He and other Bedouin in the village said they feared Israeli settlers would seize the vacated land.
    The Israeli rights group B'Tselem said the demolition at Khirbet Humsah was "unusually broad", accusing Israel of seeking "to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities in order to take over their land".
    3 View gallery
    A Palestinian man sits on mattresses in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    A Palestinian man sits on mattresses in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    A Palestinian man sits on mattresses in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    (Photo: Reuters)
    Some 440,000 Israeli settlers live among more than 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state.
    Israeli forces began dismantling tents and livestock pens in Khirbet Humsah on Monday, residents and B'Tselem said. On Wednesday, Israeli troops accompanied by bulldozers also knocked down several steel and wooden structures in the village, Reuters TV footage showed.
    The dismantled tents had housed 74 Palestinians, including 41 minors, B'Tselem said in a statement.
    3 View gallery
    A Palestinian man stands next to Israeli soldiers in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    A Palestinian man stands next to Israeli soldiers in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    A Palestinian man stands next to Israeli soldiers in the village of Khirbet Humsah
    (Photo: Reuters)
    COGAT, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians, said it had explained to residents "the dangers involved in staying within the firing range" and offered them space outside of it.
    "Despite the offer, the residents refused to independently move the tent areas that had been set up illegally and without the required permits and approvals," COGAT said.
    Palestinians and rights group say such permits are nearly impossible to obtain from Israel.
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