QALQILYA (PIC)– Ezbet Tabib hamlet in Qalqilya province has been subjected to repeated Israeli attempts to wipe it off the map where 35 homes out of 45 Palestinian homes in the hamlet were notified with demolition in favor of settlement expansion.
The hamlet’s residents organize daily events and vigils in face of Israeli schemes targeting Palestinian presence in the hamlet.
Head of the village council Bayan Tabib said that after long years the Israeli Supreme Planning Council has issued on Monday a master plan for the hamlet that will be subjected to contests for 60 days.
He stressed the importance of such a decision that will provide legal recognition to the hamlet and therefore could be used to submit appeals against Israeli demolition notifications.
He added that although the master plan does not cover the entire hamlet’s area however it can be used to protect the rest of the hamlet’s lands and homes.
The activist Mohammed Tabib for his part recalled that 45% of the hamlet’s land was confiscated in 2003 in favor of the Israeli Apartheid Wall.
35 out of 45 homes in the village in which 247 people live in addition to a school a clinic and the Hamlet’s council headquarters are threatened with confiscation he said.
The hamlet is considered the fifth poorest community in the West Bank according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
The hamlet reels under harsh Israeli restrictions along with dozens of Palestinian villages located behind the Apartheid Wall where its residents are prevented to leave or have access to the hamlet without Israeli permit.
He stressed that the hamlet’s residents are determined to defend their lands in face of Israeli deportation policies.
