Violation: demolition of structure

Location: Al-Jiftlik- Jericho

Date: February 10, 2021

Perpetrators: Israel Civil Administration

Victims: Palestinian families from the area

Details:

Within an Israeli policy to evacuate the Jordan Valley area, Israeli authorities have been active at restricting agricultural activity and reinforcing Israeli settlers’ presence in area. This comes within an Israeli agenda to Judaize the Palestinian Jordan Valley and evict Palestinians from it.

It is reported that the Planning and Construction Sub-Committee of the Israeli Civil Administration backed with three dozers raided al-Jiftlik village on February 10, 2021, demolished three agricultural water pools and the water carrier lines linking the pools with the nearby agricultural lands

It should be noted that the structures were notified with “removal of new establishment” on February 04, 2021. The notices entail carrying out the “removal” act within a 96-hour timeframe. Reportedly, the pools were partially demolished by the occupation forces on August 06,2020.

The following table shows information about the pools and their owners:

Khaleel Zubaidat's pool after the demolition and the notice

Muneer Nasasra's pool after The Demolition and the notice

Muneer Nasasra's second pool after The Demolition and the notice

It should be noted that the affected farmers have been previously targeted. Their palm and grapes groves have been attacked; irrigation networks were cut off and confiscated, rendering several trees to die.

Noteworthy, the pools were previously notified of stop-work. A legal file was compiled to complete all licensing procedures and submitted to the Israeli side. Not surprisingly, the it was met with rejection. As a result, the pools were partially demolished later to that incident.

Today, the losses following the current demolition totaled 160000 NIS (approx. 48,358 USD)

Demolition notice on a residential barrack:

It is reported that the Planning and Construction Sub-Committee of the Israeli Civil Administration backed with military force raided the area locally known as “al-Makhrouq”, east of al-Jiftlik village and notified a structure with demolition on the pretext that they were built without proper license. The 72m²targeted house is owned by citizen Muslem Abu Dlakh and is home for seven members including five children. The military notice gave the affected citizen a 96-hour deadline before demolition takes place.

Photo 8: the targeted citizen

The demolition notice number 10017

The affected citizen told a researcher from Land Research Center the following:

“I initiated the construction of a residence for my family. I work in the agriculture sector; it is my source of income. If my residence gets demolished, I don’t have the resources to afford building another one. Also, there are no places for me to go since the occupation is targeting the whole village”

Jiftlik Village [1]:

Al-Jiftlik village is located 35 km north of Jericho, and its population is 3100 people according to the 2017 census. Its total area is 185031 dunums, of which 1110 dunums are built up area. The occupation confiscated an area of 12040 dunums from its lands, as follows:

3207 dunums were confiscated for building Israeli settlements in the area, including the settlement of Maswa.

3328 dunums were confiscated for the purpose of building settlement roads bearing the numbers 90, 505 and 508.

5505 dunums for the purpose of building military camps for the Israeli army.

(1) Source: Geographical Information Unit at the Land Research Center.

This report was prepared as part of Secure Palestinian Land & Housing Rights project activities

The Contents of this document are the responsibility of LRC and do not reflect EU position