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Demolition of a Water Pool in Marj Na’aja village / North Jericho

2021-02-10

Violation: Demolishing a water pool on the pretext of building without a license.

Location: Marj Na’aja village / North Jericho.

Date: February 10th 2021.

Perpetrators: The Israeli Civil Administration.

Victims: 14 families.

Description:

Wednesday, February 10th 2021 , the Israeli Occupation forces accompanied by a civil bulldozer raided  an area known of “Khzouq Musa” north Marj Na’aja village in Jericho governorate , and ravaged an irrigation water pool with a storage capacity of 1100 m3, on a plot belong to citizen Saleh Hashim , on the pretext of building in C area without a license.

The So called Construction inspector at the Israeli Civil Administration already raided the area Sunday January 31st 2021 and put a notice number “10016” on the walls of the pool , the notice was entitled “Removal of a new building” , issued under military order “1797” activated in 2018 , where the occupation set 96 hours to demolish the pool.

The targeted pool was established recently by the Ministry of Agriculture with funding from an International Agriculture-specialized Organization , in order to provide irrigation water for about 550 dunums planted with palm trees at the area that provide a source of income for 14 families from Az-Zubaidat and Marj Na’aja north Jericho.


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Notice number: 10016


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Photos 1-4: The targeted pool following the demolition

Marj Na’aja village council head Kayed Maso’ud told LRC:

“Umm Al-‘Abour and Khozouq Musa areas are significant agricultural locations , the area expands on 1500 dunums , and have been targeted by the Israeli Occupation for more than 43 years . The occupation turned most of these lands into closed military areas and prohibited all agriculture and residential constructions , while the rest were announced as border areas  where all sorts of construction is banned. Establishing an irrigation pool was an entrepreneurial idea to revive agriculture sector, it was also a glimpse of hope for farmers in order to reduce costs of agricultural inputs. After the establishment of the pool, agriculture notably flourished, but the occupation did not take long to demolish it , and deprive farmers from a significant source of water.”

Mark Na’aja village lost most of its eastern land for the buffer zone on the Jordanian borders, in addition to bypass 90 which isolated vast areas and halted construction, the occupation nevertheless prohibits any Developmental projects , which imposes a very hard reality on people of the village.

A Glimpse of Marj Na’aja :

37 Kilometers to the north of Jericho, Marj Na’aja has a population of 940 people according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for 2012. Most of the village’s residents are refugees from Umm Fahem and ‘Ara’ara behind the green line of 1948 , coming from many families. Namely : Ash-Shaikh Khaleel , Maso’ud, Bsharat, Abu Shadad, Al-‘Ayed , Mennawi, Abu Hilal , Mara’ai , Suwarqa , Bani Odeh.

Marj Na’aja has a total area of 4872 dunums , of which 244 dunums are  a built up area, 90 dunums were devoured by illegal Colonization represented in “Aragan” colony , about 1500 dunums are arable lands , while the rest are postures.


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This Report Was Prepared as Part of Secure Palestinian Lands and Housing Rights project activities

The Contents of This Document are the responsibility of LRC and do Not Reflect positions of the European Union