B’Tselem organization on Tuesday launched a petition to foil an Israeli plan to displace thousands of Palestinians who live in about 200 communities in Area C in the West Bank.
B’Tselem said in a report “It’s happening right now and every day. Israel is trying to displace thousands of Palestinians who live in about 200 farming-shepherding communities in Area C of the West Bank. Dozens of these communities face imminent expulsion and others are subject to various forms of abuse violence and dispossession.”
The organization affirmed that Israel’s goal is to establish as many facts on the ground as possible in order to make more land available for settlements.
The report noted that Israel is focusing its military campaign on three areas in the West Bank.
The first area is located south of al-Khalil mountains. Nearly 1000 people about half of whom are minors live in this area. The Israeli army began transferring out local residents in late 1999 arguing that the land had been declared a “firing zone” since the 1980s.
The Second area is Ma’ale Adumim. In the 1980s and 1990s Israel expelled hundreds of Bedouins of the Jahalin tribe in order to establish and later expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. The Palestinians were transferred to a permanent site created for them near Abu Dis garbage dump losing access to the farmlands that were their livelihood.
Now the report said another 3000 local residents are facing imminent expulsion. This number includes about 1400 who live in an area that Israel has designated E1 and earmarked for expanding Ma’ale Adumim to create a contiguous urban bloc between the settlement and East Jerusalem.
The third area is Jordan Valley. About 2700 Palestinians live in this area in about 20 shepherding communities. The Israeli army has declared much of these communities “firing zones” and regularly conducts training exercises near them. Residents in some communities are repeatedly forced to evacuate their homes so soldiers can train nearby.
