RAMALLAH
Israeli forces accompanied by bulldozers stormed a Palestinian neighborhood in the occupied Jordan Valley region on Wednesday and demolished a makeshift home and a barn on the pretext that they had been built illegally.
"Israeli forces demolished a home and barn belonging to Zahi Bani Omyeh, 43, for the third time in four months in the Ein Karzyielia area of the Jordan Valley," Fathi Shkirat, coordinator of a campaign that advocates for the rights of Palestinians in the area, told Anadolu Agency.
"Several Palestinian shepherds who live in the area were threatened by the Israeli authorities that they would have their homes demolished if they insisted on staying on the land," Shkirat added.
Bani Omayeh said it was the third time for Israeli authorities to demolish his home.
"They want me to leave the land, but I – along with my six children – won't leave," he told AA defiantly. "Every time they demolish my home and barn, I rebuild them."
More than 10,000 Palestinians live in makeshift homes in the Jordan Valley, as Israel has prohibited the construction of permanent cement and iron structures in the area.
Animal husbandry and farming represent the main activities of valley residents.
There are currently 21 Jewish-only settlements in the Jordan Valley, although Israel has announced plans to further expand areas earmarked for settlement activity.
Israel sees the strategic valley as an economic and security buffer zone for Jewish 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 Jordan Valley as part of a future Palestinian state.
By Anees Barghouthi
englishnews@aa.com.tr
