JORDAN VALLEY, West Bank – Israel began demolishing a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank for the second time in three months, in what a human rights group called an attempt to dislodge an entire Palestinian community from the area.
Israeli officials said the village of Khirbet Humsah, in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, was built illegally on a military firing range and that residents rejected the offer to move to a nearby area.
The 130 inhabitants of Khirbet Humsah have promised to stay, some sleeping on mattresses and plastic tarps scattered on the rocky soil. The tents and animal shelters in the village were last demolished in November, but residents returned shortly afterwards.
“We are not leaving here, we are going to stay here. If they demolish, we will rebuild, ”said one of the residents, Ibrahim Abu Awad. He and other Bedouins in the village said they feared Israeli settlers would take over the unoccupied land.
Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the demolition in Khirbet Humsah was “unusually wide”, accusing Israel of seeking to “forcibly transfer Palestinian communities to take control of their land”.
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.
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Israeli forces began to dismantle tents and pens in Khirbet Humsah on Monday, residents and B’Tselem said. On Wednesday, Israeli troops accompanied by bulldozers also brought down several steel and wood structures in the village, images from Reuters TV showed.
The dismantled tents housed 74 Palestinians, including 41 minors, B’Tselem said in a statement.
COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, said it explained to residents “the dangers involved in staying within the shooting range” and offered them space outside.
“Despite the offer, residents refused to independently move the tent areas that were assembled illegally and without the necessary permits and approvals,” said COGAT.
Palestinians and human rights groups say such permits are almost impossible to obtain from Israel.