Israel expels 50 Bedouin families for military drill

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army has ordered 50 Palestinian Bedouin families to leave their homes in the Jordan Valley ahead of a new military drill, for the second such move in one week, according to a local Palestinian official.

"Fifty families have received orders from the Israeli military to evacuate their homes and lands by Wednesday," Motaz Bsharat, who is responsible for monitoring Israeli settlement building in the Jordan Valley, told Anadolu Agency.

He said an Israeli military force broke into Bedouin communities in the area this morning and "handed over the orders to the families to leave their homes".

Almost 300 Palestinians, including 140 children, currently live in these areas.

Last week, the Israeli military expelled dozens of Bedouin families in the Jordan Valley for a week-long exercise.

According to the 1993 Oslo Accords, "Area C" of the West Bank -- which includes the Jordan Valley -- falls under full Israeli administrative and security control.

Roughly 6,000 Jewish settlers currently live in 21 Israeli settlements scattered across the Jordan Valley region.

The self-proclaimed Jewish state sees the strategic valley as a vital economic and security zone for its settlements and wants to keep the region under its firm control in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Palestinians, for their part, want the valley -- a large, fertile strip of land that accounts for roughly one quarter of the West Bank -- as part of a sought-for Palestinian state.