ISRAEL RAZES PALESTINIAN HOMES IN JORDAN VALLEY

West Bank, 10 Rajab 1436/29 April 2015 (MINA) – The Israeli army on Monday razed four homes in the village of Al-Jiftlik, which is situated in the West Bank province of Jericho in the Jordan Valley, according to eyewitnesses.

Israeli bulldozers razed homes located in the eastern part of Al-Jiftlik village, claiming the area was part of a “military zone” under Israeli jurisdiction, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency, noting that the homes that were razed had housed about 30 people.

The site where the demolitions occurred falls within “Area C,” which covers nearly two thirds of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli civil and security control as stipulated by the Oslo II Accord (signed in 1995 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority).

Israel prohibits construction of cement and/or iron structures in the strategic Jordan Valley region, an agriculturally-rich area that runs along the Jordanian border.

As a result, over 10,000 Palestinian inhabitants of the region have been forced to live in makeshift tent-homes or tin shacks.

Israel which sees the strategic valley as an economic and security buffer zone for Jewish settlements – wants to keep the region under its control in any future deal with the Palestinians.. Palestinians, for their part, want the Jordan Valley as part of the state of Palestine. (T/P002/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)