Israel destroys shepherding community in Jordan Valley
reposted from Maan News
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities destroyed an entire community of rural Palestinians in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday, demolishing their homes and leaving 25 people homeless, human rights group B’Tselem said.
A Palestinian boy pictured in the Jordan Valley.
The demolition took place at 6.30 a.m., with Israeli military and civil administration officials arriving at the village of Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah and proceeding to demolish all of the community’s buildings.
Israel’s military also demolished the only water pipe available to the community.
“Israel has once again forgotten that control entails responsibility. The Jordan Valley cannot be addressed as a merely theoretical issue, discussing its future while completely disregarding the fate of its residents,” B’Tselem Director Jessica Montell said.
“At the moment, the authorities must set aside their political ambitions and consider the fate of 25 individuals, who do not know how they’ll get through the night and how their flocks, their only source of income and livelihood, will fare.”
Israel has said in recent negotiations that it is not willing to compromise security in the Jordan Valley, which forms a third of the occupied West Bank.
Over 90 percent of the Jordan Valley is designated as Area C, with illegal settlements controlling up to 50 percent of the land area.