Israeli Bulldozers Destroy Palestinian Village in Khirbet Homsa
Nablus, MINA – The condition of Palestinian settlements in the Khirbet Homsa valley was destroyed without leaving any intact objects after being ransacked by Israeli occupation bulldozers, on Tuesday.
Dozens of Israeli military vehicles surrounded Khirbet Homsa al-Fawqa, east of Tubas, before they bulldozed to destroy more than 80 housing and agricultural facilities and displace 13 families living in Khirbet.
The demolition affected housing facilities, leaving more than 85 people homeless.
In addition, Israeli bulldozers also destroyed barracks and livestock pens, and destroyed tons of forage, water tanks, water carriers and solar panels, which are the only source of electricity in Khirbet.
Arif Daraghmeh who specializes in defending human rights following up on occupation attacks in the Jordan Valley, told Safa that the occupation has displaced dozens of Palestinians from their homes in bad weather conditions with the onset of winter.
Over the past few months, the Israeli occupation authorities have stepped up the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem in an unprecedented way.
He added that the Israeli occupation deliberately chose the right time to pressure citizens into forcing them to emigrate and leave the Jordan Valley as an easy option for settlements and occupation camps.
As an emergency measure to help victims, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, in collaboration with the Red Crescent Society provided tents for the residents of Khirbet to protect them but thousands of livestock remained out in the open in the rainy weather and storms that threatened destruction.
“This is not the first time Khirbet Hamsa has been destroyed but it is the most violent in years,” said Daraghmeh.
After the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, it was destroyed and its inhabitants displaced and after that, families from the Hebron area settled in it, working on the farm and raising livestock.
The damage extends to large areas of arable land used for agriculture and livestock.
Like other communities in the Jordan Valley, Khirbet Homsa is constantly exposed to job harassment, such as demolitions, evictions, transfers, and property confiscation.
Israel does that under the pretext of military drills, where people are forced to leave their homes and farms, to turn into training for tanks and heavy vehicles that come and roam and fire live ammunition and artillery shells that leave devastation.
Daraghmeh pointed out that while Palestinians in the Jordan Valley are prohibited from having portable bathrooms, Israeli illegal settlers enjoy all the amenities provided by the occupation government to those in the surrounding settlements. (T/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
