Israeli Violations in the time of Corona:

Violation: establishing a new outpost.

Location: Khirbet Al-Faresiya / Tubas governorate.

Date: July 6^th 2020.

Perpetrators: Settlers of the illegal settlement “Rotem”.

Victims: Farmers of Khirbet Al-Farisiya.

Description:

Monday morning, July 6^th 2020 a group of settlers set up a canopy above a hill in Khirbet Al-Farisiya east Tubas , the canopy is about 400 m away from the Khirbet’s houses.

Reportedly, A group of fanatic settlers imposed their control over the hell, and used their guns to keep Palestinian herders away from the location.

Photo 1: the new outpost

Mahdi Daraghmeh head of Bedouin and rural communities in Wad Al-Malih told LRC:

“The targeted hill links Al-Farisiya to agricultural lands and postures in the western side , it also overview the eastern borders of the northern Jordan Valley. Closing those lands will mean the closure of vast areas of postures. Noteworthy, most residents of Al-Farisiya depend mainly on cattle breeding for living, the closure of more postures will make their lives impossible.”

In 2017, a group of settlers established an outpost in Khallet Hamed , that expanded in a blink of an eye northeast Al-Farisiya. Herders, who are the great majority the area’s residents, lost vast areas of postures as a result of establishing and expanding illegal outposts, the new outpost is only 1500m away from the outpost in Khallet Hamed.

During the last 5 years, LRC team reported and documented the establishment of eight new outposts in the Palestinian Jordan Valley area, after taking over Palestinian agricultural lands and postures and banning their owners/farmers from accessing them.

Khirbet Al-Faresiya:

Khirbet Al-Faresiya is located to the eastern side of Tubas governorate, especially in Wadi Al-Malih area about 20 km away from Tubas city, the lands of the Khirbet range from At-Tayaseer check point west to the Jordan river east.

Al-Faresiya now has a total population of 181 people “2017 census” , but before Israel occupied West Bank in 1967 , Al-Faresiya had a population of 1000 people who depend mainly on agriculture and cattle breading for living.

People of Al-Farisiya descend from Bsharat, Dababat , and Daraghmeh families from Tubas and Tamoun , people of the Khirbet live in basic residences built of zinc and other basic materials.

Photo 2 : Khirbet Al-Farisiya

The khirbet was known of water springs and rich soil which made it an attraction to number of farmers from the West Bank.

Noteworthy, Khirbet Al-Faresiya was targeted of demolition by the occupation forces several times, its residences went through forcible displacement , and the occupation is refusing to license their structures until this day.

This report was prepared under SPLHR project

The contents of this document are the responisibilty of LRC and do not reflect the positions of the EU