Military forces 7 Palestinian communities in Jordan Valley to evacuate homes for maneuvers

21 May 2015

A family evacuating their home, near al-Malih, northern Jordan Valley. Photo: 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem, 3 May 2015

Evacuations and military training greatly harmed livestock and residents’ farmland

B’Tselem’s research indicates that on 29 and 30 April 2015 representatives of the Civil Administration (CA) served temporary evacuation orders to some sixty families, numbering some 410 people including approximately 120 minors, in seven Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley. The orders required some families to leave their homes and property for periods of three to twelve hours. Other families were required to evacuate their homes for several hours a day, for several days running. The evacuation was ordered for a military maneuver in the area.

The families were given only a few days to prepare for the evacuation. Some of the residents received written orders from the CA, while others were notified of the evacuation only through the Tubas District of the Palestinian Authority. The communities required to evacuate: Ibziq, Khirbet Humsah, Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar, Zra’ ‘Awad, al-Burj, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and Khirbet al-Malih. Residents were required to stay out of their homes for part of the day, sometimes allowed to return home only in the evening. The evacuation process began on 3 May 2015 and continued in some communities through 9 May. The community of Khirbet Humsah was particularly hard hit, as some seventy of its residents had to leave their homes for several hours a day for a full week. The 110 or so residents of Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar and Zra’ ‘Awad had to evacuate their homes one day for several hours. The 230 or so residents of Ibziq, al-Burj, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and Khirbet al-Malih had to do so for several hours on two days.

Military training near the community of a-Ras al-Ahmar. Photo: 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem, 5 May 2015

It is extremely difficult for whole families, including children, to be evacuated on such short notice. With no properly arranged place to stay, they must find a way to ensure shelter, food and drink away from home in the intense, grueling heat of the Jordan Valley.

Heijar Abu Zahu, 59, of al-Ibziq, related the following to B’Tselem researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 12 May 2015:

We went through a few rough hours when we were evacuated from our home. We could take almost nothing with us, neither tents nor anything else. The place they told us to go to was far away and we had no shelter, no tent or anything, only the shade of the tractors and a few carts. We had almost no water and food. We took only a few things with us and they ran out. There was nothing nearby. It was awkward, because I and the other women and girls couldn’t go to the toilet, because there was nothing we could use to screen or conceal us. I have high blood pressure and respiratory problems. I took my medication in the morning, but I forgot it at home and couldn’t go back for it.

Fire in a pasture during military training near al-Malih. Photo: 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem, 4 May 2015

The evacuated communities live solely off farming and shepherding. Evacuating them and holding military maneuvers on their land and in the vicinity is highly detrimental to their livelihood. During the evacuations, the residents had to leave their livestock behind, and the animals remained untended in the extreme heat. B’Tselem’s research has found that over the course of the military maneuver, ten sheep and goats died in the evacuated communities. In addition, ammunition remnants from the military training caused fires. Reports from the local councils of the Jordan Valley communities stated that dozens of hectares of pasture and cultivated agricultural land went up in flames. The maneuvers also included troops crossing farmland, and cultivated plots in Ibziq and a-Ras al-Ahmar were trampled.

Amineh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Abu Kabash, 66, of Khirbet Humsah, told B’Tselem researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 4 May 2015:

We left everything behind and took only a few things with us and a little food and drink. We left our livestock and belongings behind. I live in constant fear because of what’s going on in our area. We’ve already been evacuated several times before, and when we got back we found the lambs and kids hungry and thirsty. Some had died. They also burn everything when they do their training.

At the beginning of the season, we had good news in the form of rain and a lot of vegetation on the hills. Now, even though we put our trust in God, the training burned everything and destroyed our hopes. All around us everything is charred. All the pastureland has burned up and what’s left is areas off limits to us by military order.

The military has been training more frequently in the Jordan Valley over the last three years. The increased frequency follows an official policy one of whose declared goals is to prevent Palestinians from living on land declared by Israel as firing zones. These parcels of land cover roughly 46% of the Jordan Valley (see map). Declaring areas as firing zones is one of several methods that Israel employs to prevent Palestinians from accessing land in the Jordan Valley.

Military vehicles in the Jordan Valley during training. Photo: 'Aref Daraghmeh, B'Tselem, 4 May 2015

The minutes of a meeting of the Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, held on 27 April 2014 and published by Israeli daily Ha’aretz, clearly show that one goal of the military maneuvers held in the area is to remove Palestinians from land there. Colonel Einav Shalev, an Operations Branch Officer at Central Command, said in the meeting: “I think that one of the good steps that could fall between the cracks is restoring firing zones in places where they are meant to be and still are not. [That is] one of the main reasons that we, as a military system, send a lot of the training maneuvers to the Jordan Valley… When the troops march, people moved aside, and I’m making no distinction between Jews and Palestinians here, I’m speaking generally… There are some places [where] we significantly cut down on the amount of training, and weeds cropped up.”

Under international humanitarian law, an occupying state is permitted to operate within the occupied territory for two reasons only: the benefit of the local population and immediate military concerns relating to the military’s actions in the occupied territory. As an occupying power in the West Bank, Israel is not allowed to use land there for general military purposes such as training for warfare and general maneuvers. It certainly is not allowed to use such a pretext to harm the livelihood of protected persons, nor take steps to expel them from their homes.

Israel must immediately stop the temporary evacuation of Palestinian communities in the West Bank for the purpose of military training, and must cease all other actions taken in an attempt to force Palestinians out of the area. Israel is duty-bound to enable local residents to live their lives, including allowing them to build their homes legally and use local water sources.

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Israeli military tightens travel restrictions on Masafer Yatta in attempt to drive Palestinians out

Since the beginning of November 2017, the Israeli military has been imposing harsh travel restrictions on the Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. At first, the military blocked several roads in the area with dirt piles and rocks. Later, after residents removed some of the roadblocks, the military dug deep, wide ditches across the roads that prevent any sort of access by vehicle. The residents of Masafer Yatta have been suffering incessant harassment by Israel for decades. Israel does not allow them to connect to infrastructure and repeatedly demolishes their homes, in an attempt to drive them out of the area. Forcible transfer of residents constitutes a war crime. This will hold true even if the residents of these communities leave their homes, supposedly of their own volition, due to the unbearable living conditions that Israel’s policy is forcing upon them. Military bulldozer digging a ditch across a road leading to Masafer Yatta. Filmed by Nasser Nawaj'ah, B'Tselem, 26 Dec. 2017 On 9 November 2017, military forces blocked off the roads leading from the communities of Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Fakhit and Khirbet al-Halawah to the main road in the area, Route 317, with dirt piles and rocks. To leave the area, residents had to drive to a roadblock, leave their car, walk several hundred meters to the main road and then take a taxi to their destination. A few days later, residents partially opened the roadblocks, allowing cars through again. However, on 15 November, the military blocked the roads again, as well as the road leading out of Khirbet al-Markez. On 19 and 20 November, the military again blocked the roads to Khirbet al-Halawah and Khirbet al-Fakhit, which the residents had opened. The residents partially removed some of the roadblocks, but on 26 December the military placed rocks and dug deep, wide ditches across three main roads that lead to Route 317 – Khasham al-Buttom, Bir al-‘Eid and the way to a-Tuwani. This almost entirely sealed off the communities of Masafer Yatta, leaving residents almost no access in and out of the area. Five days later, residents managed to reopen the way to Khasham al-Buttom for cars and tractors. On 30 January 2018, they also reopened the way to Beir al-‘Eid to traffic, but as the road is in poor condition, it cannot be used to transport water, animal feed or groceries in wagons to these isolated communities. For three months now, the residents of Masafer Yatta have been suffering harsh travel restrictions that force them to walk long distances, sometimes in harsh weather, or to drive along rough routes that damage their cars and cannot be used to transport bulk goods. These restrictions are the latest in a long line of abusive practices employed by the Israeli authorities as part of an attempt to remove the residents from area. The following testimonies were given to B’Tselem field researchers Musa Abu Hashhash and Manal al-Ja’bri on 27 December 2017. Hamzah Abu ‘Aram (29), a married father of one and farmer from the community of Khirbet al-Maghaz in Masafer Yatta, related: My father and I own more than 150 heads of sheep. When it doesn’t rain, I have to drive all the way to Yatta almost daily to buy water and feed for the animals, as well as groceries for us. I drive a tractor that’s connected to a water tank behind, which I fill up there. Before they blocked off the roads in November, traveling from al-Maghaz to Yatta would take me about an hour in each direction. I drove along dirt roads used by farmers, through Bir al-‘Eid, Shu’b al-Buttom or a-Tuwani. I usually preferred the latter because it was the shortest route – only 12 kilometers. In November, the Israeli military blocked off the three roads leading out of Masafer Yatta with dirt piles, but the residents partially removed them and we managed to get through somehow. Yesterday, the military forces came back and dug ditches across all three roads. When I saw them, I was shocked. They’re about three meters wide and more than two meters deep. I realized that none of us will be able to use these roads any more, by car or by tractor. Yesterday I didn’t even try to go in to Yatta, because of the ditches. But today I had to go, because I had to get animal feed and pay back the merchant who sells it. I rode a donkey to a-Tuwani. I left home at 8:30 A.M. and got to Yatta at 11:00 A.M. I’m very worried and have no idea how I’ll be able to keep up a regular supply of water and feed for the animals and groceries for us. The donkey won’t be able to carry all that. If someone from my family gets sick, how can we take him to the clinic at Yatta? They closed off the roads to make our lives difficult and pressure us into leaving the area, but that’s out of the question. I very much hope that our suffering will come to an end. Video: Demolition of a structure in Khirbet Jenbah, 2 Feb. 2016. Filmed by Nasser Nawaj'ah, B'Tselem Majedah Raba’i (36), a married mother of four and the secretary of the Yatta local council, lives in the community of Khirbet Jenbah in Masafer Yatta. In her testimony, she stated: I’m married to Jibrin Raba’i and we have four children. The eldest is 15 and the youngest is nine months old. I work every day. Until yesterday, every morning a council vehicle would come by and pick up the employees. We’d drive along the Bir al-‘Eid road and sometimes through Shu’b al-Buttom. It took about half an hour to get to work. At the end of November and throughout December, the Israeli military blocked off several roads that lead to Masafer Yatta with dirt piles, but the farmers and residents partially reopened them, so we could still drive along the roads. Yesterday morning I went to work as usual. Later, I learned that the military had closed off all three roads to Masafer Yatta – Bir al-‘Eid, Shu’b al-Buttom and a-Tuwani. I got very nervous. I couldn’t get home and had to sleep over at some relatives of mine in Yatta. Today I have to get home, because I have young children. After I finish work, the council vehicle will take me as far as the ditch along the Bir al-‘Eid way, and from there I’ll have to continue at least two kilometers on foot. The weather isn’t good and it will be hard. We won’t be able to keep this up for long, especially with the rain and mud on the dirt paths. My husband told me that no vehicles can drive along those roads right now. If this carries on, I won’t be able to come in to work. I won’t be the only one to suffer from these roadblocks. My children and relatives will suffer, too. We won’t be able to take the kids to the doctor in Yatta, and my father-in-law is going to have a huge problem buying water and feed for the livestock. This is basically an extreme kind of siege that is affecting the lives of everyone in Masafer Yatta. The goal is to pressure us into leaving the area. It’s a violation of our most basic rights. Nabil Abu ‘Aram (33), a married father of two and a teacher in Jenbah , lives in Yatta. He related: I’m a maths teacher and have been working for five years at the co-ed elementary school at Jenbah , in Masafer Yatta. I drive to school in my car and give several other teachers a ride. We take the road through Bir al-‘Eid because it’s the shortest route. Sometimes we take the other roads, to Shu’b al-Buttom or a-Tuwani, because some teachers go to school in al-Fakhit . All these roads are unpaved dirt paths used by farmers. In November, the Israeli military placed dirt piles across all three roads and blocked them off to vehicles. The farmers and residents partially reopened them later, so we could still drive along them. Yesterday, military bulldozers dug deep ditches across all three roads, and now no kind of vehicle can get across. This morning, my colleagues and I drove in my car up to the ditch dug across the Bir al-‘Eid road. I parked the car there and we walked to school, a distance of about two kilometers. It took us about half an hour. At the end of the school day, we took the same route back. It took longer, about 45 minutes, because we had to walk uphill and the path is rough. Until now, driving to school from Yatta used to take me 20 minutes. The roadblocks are making our lives very difficult, especially now that it’s cold and rainy. If this continues, I don’t see how I’ll be able to carry on teaching at the school. The village of Khirbet a-Taban in Masafer Yatta. Photo by Oren Ziv, Activestills, 30 Jan. 2013 The village of Khirbet al-Markez in Masafer Yata. Photo by Oren Ziv, Activestills, 30 Jan. 2013

4 February 2018

Residents of Kh. Basaliyeh putting out fire caused by military’s training. Between Kh. Basaliyeh and Humsah. Photo: ‘Aref Daraghmeh,, B’Tselem, 25 June 2015

Communities Facing Expulsion

June in the Jordan Valley: In 7 days of maneuvers, military temporarily displaces hundreds and causes fires in farmland

This past month, June 2015, the Israeli military temporarily displaced hundreds of Palestinians from communities in the Jordan Valley, forcing them to leave their homes for varying periods of time over seven days in which maneuvers were held in the area. Since the beginning of the year, Palestinians in the Jordan Valley have been temporarily displaced over 20 days of military training. B'Tselem has documented the displacement of the residents and its impact on the lives of their communities. Residents of Kh. Basaliyeh putting out fire caused by military’s training. Between Kh. Basaliyeh and Humsah. Photo: ‘Aref Daraghmeh,, B’Tselem, 25 June 2015 Khirbet Humsah: Four displacements of some members of the community On 10 and 16 June, ten families from the community of Khirbet Humsah were made to leave their homes for seven hours as of 7:00 A.M. The families, numbering 69 people, 43 of them minors, went to areas several kilometers from their homes, sometimes using carts dragged by tractors and sometimes on foot. On 10 June, when the residents returned to their homes, they found that grazing areas and cultivated farmland had gone up in flames, presumably as the result of firing by the military. In addition, water tanks used to water the flocks were pierced by bullets. The residents also reported that they found unexploded ammunition in areas close to their homes. On the morning of 16 June, Civil Administration representatives informed the same residents that they would be required to leave their homes again, together with five other families from the community, on 22 June and 25 June 2015. On 22 and 25 June, 15 families numbering 92 people, 51 of them minors, were forced to leave their homes from 6:00 A.M. through 12:30 P.M. Testimonies that residents gave B'Tselem indicate that during the maneuver on 25 June, the military engaged in extensive shooting, leading to the outbreak of fires in grazing areas used by the residents some two kilometers from their homes. Yasser Abu Kabash, 42, a resident of the neighboring community of Khirbet Basaliyeh to the southwest of Khirbet Humsah, related in his testimony to B'Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh: Yasser Abu Kabash shows pastures that caught fire. Photo: ‘Aref Daraghmeh,, B’Tselem, 25 June 2015 We heard mortar explosions and gunfire, and once in a while we could see fire. It spread across the grazing areas and came as close as half a kilometer from our tents in Basaliyeh. These grazing areas are the source of food for our flocks and they are our main lifeline. Without them, we will have to buy expensive fodder. Our lives are difficult, and any small saving is very significant in terms of our survival. After discussing the situation with my brothers, we decided to take a risk and try to put out the fire, although the area was still a closed military zone and there was still shooting. We spoke to the military officers who were there, but they refused to allow us to approach the area until the training ended. Eventually, when we saw that the fire was destroying large areas, we went around and entered the grazing areas from an area far from the maneuvers, while mortars were still being fired in the area. Some soldiers saw us and wanted to make us leave, but we explained that we wanted to put out the fire and they allowed us to do so. I didn’t have anything on me that could help extinguish the fire. I took my pants off and used them to put out the fire. I told myself that this way I would save the grazing area for my flock, and that new pants would cost me much less than expensive fodder for the animals. We managed to put the fire out in several places. During the month of May, residents of Khirbet Humsah had already been required to leave their homes for several hours over a period of one week. All told, from the beginning of the year through the end of June, residents of the community were required to leave their homes on 11 different days due to military training. Khirbet al-Malih, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj: Entire communities displaced three times Throughout June, all the residents of Khirbet al-Malih, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj - three Palestinian communities that live close to each other – were displaced three times due to military maneuvers near their homes. Together, the three communities are home to 29 families numbering 180 members, more than a hundred of them minors. On 11 and 17 June, the residents were evacuated for six hours on each occasion, beginning at 6:30 a.m. B'Tselem’s investigation found that no damage was caused to property or land during these military exercises. On 23 June, the residents were again evacuated (with the exception of two families who were in other grazing areas at the time). The residents distanced themselves from their homes, some on foot and others using carts dragged by tractors, and reported that they heard gunfire and explosions from a distance and saw fires break out in grazing land adjacent to al-Burj and to the nearby community of Khirbet Yarza, which was not required to evacuate. The residents also received orders to leave home on 26 June, but on that day representatives of the military and the Civil Administration did not come to the area as customary in order to ascertain that the residents had indeed evacuated. Accordingly, the residents remained in their homes. The reason for this was presumably that the training had been cancelled, although no-one bothered to inform the residents of this. In May the residents of these communities had already been evacuated for two days, and in total they have been displaced from their homes five times from the beginning of the year through the end of June. These military maneuvers cause unreasonable disruption to the lives of the communities in the area. The residents are required to leave their homes for many hours, sometimes on short notice of just a few hours. In some cases, they do not have any proper alternative location, and are left exposed to the harsh weather conditions that prevail in the Jordan Valley in the summer. In these conditions they must care for their families, from young children to the elderly, and find shelter, water and food. This hardship is particularly severe at present due to the month-long Ramadan fasting. Residents of Khirbet al-Malih, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj evacuating. Photo by ‘Aref Daraghmeh, B’Tselem, 17 June 2015 The Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley rely almost exclusively for their livelihood on grazing flocks and growing crops on land next to their homes. Extensive damage to farmland and grazing areas due to gunfire, fires, and the passage of tanks and military vehicles through the fields jeopardizes the communities’ very ability to survive in the area. The minutes of a meeting held on 27 April 2014 by the Judea and Samaria Region Subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which were published on the website of the newspaper Ha’aretz, clearly show that the removal of Palestinians from these areas is one of the main goals behind the military training in the area. At the meeting, Colonel Einav Shalev, an operations officer in the Central Command, stated: "I think that one of the good steps that could fall between the cracks is restoring firing zones in places where they are meant to be and still are not. [That is] one of the main reasons that we, as a military system, send a lot of the training maneuvers to the Jordan Valley… When the troops march, people moved aside, and I’m making no distinction between Jews and Palestinians here, I’m speaking generally… There are some places [where] we significantly cut down on the amount of training, and weeds cropped up.” According to international humanitarian law, an occupying state is permitted to act in the occupied territory on the basis of just two considerations: The good of the local population and immediate military needs relating to the military’s operations in the occupied territory. As an occupying power, Israel is not entitled to use the land for general military needs, such as training for war or general military exercises. It is certainly not permitted to damage the livelihood of protected residents on this pretext and to act to expel them from their homes. Israel must halt immediately all temporary displacements of communities for the purpose of military training, and all the other actions it undertakes in an attempt to forced the Palestinian residents of the Jordan Valley to leave the area.

29 June 2015