ISRAELI FORCES DEMOLISH 4 STRUCTURES IN JERICHO

Jericho, 9 Rajab 1436/28 April 2015 (MINA)– Israeli authorities demolished four agricultural structures used by farmers in the Jericho village of al-Jiftlik on Monday, locals said.

Several steel structures and tents belonging to Yakoub Dies, Muhammad Dies, Mahmoud Dies and Fathi Abdullah were destroyed by the Israeli Civil Administration, witnesses told Ma’an.

Israeli forces at the scene did not allow the owners to remove their belongings before demolishing the structures, residents said, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

However, an official from Israel’s COGAT unit in the occupied West Bank denied that residents were not allowed to remove their belongings.

In an emailed statement, COGAT said that “Today security forces carried out the demolition of 4 illegal buildings which were constructed without the necessary permits in Jiftlik. The buldings were demolished after the enforcement process was carried out and demolition orders were delivered. We would like to note that part of the buildings were located at state lands.”

The statement added that “the claims about belongings being inside the structures at the time of the demolition are not correct and that the belongings were cleared out of the buildings before the demolition.”

In December, Israeli forces demolished EU-funded irrigation pools in al-Jiftlik. The village has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli forces with demolition orders.

The Jordan Valley accounts for nearly a third of the land in the occupied West Bank, although 90 percent of it is designated as “Area C” meaning it is under full Israeli control and Palestinian use of the land is severely restricted.

Aside from the land taken up by 39 Israeli settlements and nine illegal outposts, huge swathes of territory have been declared military firing zones and therefore off-limits to Palestinian herders. (T/P010/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)