Israeli Violations in the Time of Corona

Violation: demolishing a cistern and confiscating two reservoirs.

Location: Khirbet Jabeit - Al Mughayer town / Ramallah Governorate.

Violation Date: 29/9/2020.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

Affected people:  a number of families in the area.

Violation details:

 On Tuesday, September 29, 2020, the Israeli Occupation Army and the so-called Israeli Civil Administration stormed Khirbet Jebeit, located to the east of Al Mughayer village, in Ramallah governorate accompanied by a military bulldozer and truck, and destroyed an old cistern used for rain harvest  with a capacity of 45 M3, in addition to leveling a 9m² ground around it.

It is noteworthy that the owner of the cistern had received a demolition notice on the third of last August, under the pretext that it was located in an archaeological area. The notice gave a deadline of 45 days to get the cistern demolished and the place restored to its previous state, bearing in mind that the cost of obtaining water in that area is very high, about  120 shekels for one 7M3.

Photos 1-4: the cistern after demolition

At least six families who own about 450 sheep benefit from the demolished cistern, as it is the only source of water in light of the Israeli control over water resources in the area.

During this attack, the occupation army confiscated two water tanks, each is 1.5 M3, in addition to 12 iron poles that are used to built residential tens.

Khirbet Jibait has been subjected to successive attacks by the occupation army and settlers over the past three years, specifically since the establishment of a random outpost for settlers on the ruins of an occupation army camp in that area. The last of these attacks took place in early August, reprseented in poisoning number of sheep heads.

On 3/10/2020,  four residential tents, owned by two families in  the village were  dismantled and confiscated .

It is noteworthy that the “Khirbet Jabeit” area is located to the east of the village of Mughayer in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate, where citizens depend on agriculture and cattle breeding for living. The community's 56 citizens originate from the village of Al Mughayer, specifically from the Abu Alia family. They  have official documents confirming their ownership of the land in which they had been living for 50 years. Since the evacuation of the Jabeit military camp by the Israeli army about three years ago,  colonists have begun to seize the camp's land to establish a colonial outpost there. Since then, colonialists have carried out attacks against sheep herders and farmers, with the aim of preventing them from using their land, and, eventually, rmpty the area for future colonial expansion.

Al Mughayer Village:

Al Mughayir village is located 30 km to the northeast of Ramallah, and its population is about 2872 people according to the 2017 census. Most of the lands of Al Mughayer are located on the eastern side of the village and reach the borders of the Jordan River. Its total area is 33,055 dunums, of which 501 dunums are built-up areas of the village.

 The occupation authorities have confiscated more than 37 dunums of its lands to build the bypass road No. 458. According to the Oslo Agreement, 95% of the village’s lands are classified as zone C - 31,360 dunums-  under full Israeli control, and the remaining 5% are classified as zone B -1,695 dunums-  under Palestinian civic affairs and Israeli security. (Source: Geographic Information Systems Unit - Land Research Center)

This report was prepared with EU funding

The contents of this document do not reflect positions and views of the European Union