The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) confiscated 22,000 Palestinian-owned dunams in Al-Sawahrah Al-Sharqiah and Al-Nabi Musa towns, south of Jericho, under the pretext of being located in “a natural reserve area.”
The head of the Al-Sawahra Land Defense Committee, Younis Jaafar, revealed that the Israeli plan aims to confiscate Palestinian lands extending from the Nabi Musa area to Khan Al-Ahmar and the Al-Sawahra area east of occupoed Jerusalem as part of the occupation’s repeated violations on Umm Rayan, Jourat Al-Sharq, Al-Khan Al-Ahmar and Wadi Abu Hindi towns, south of Jericho and east of Jerusalem.
The confiscation policy came as part of the Israeli settlement plans in the E1 area, he added.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition against the eviction of more than 4,000 Palestinian inhabitants of a rural part of the occupied West Bank, in an area Israeli occupation has designated a zone for military exercises.
After two decades of inconclusive legal maneuvering, the Supreme Court issued its ruling late on Wednesday, paving the way for the demolition of 12 small villages in Masafer Yatta, a rocky, arid area near Hebron.
The small villages threatened with eviction include: Janab, Al Markaz, Al Halawa, Al Fakhit, Al Tabban, Al Majaz, Maghair Al Ubaid, Saffa Al Fawqa, Al Tahta, Al Tuba, Khallet Al Dabaa, and Al Mufqarah.
Home demolitions, confiscation of the most basic infrastructure and military training exercises are already part of everyday reality in the area, forcing many to live in natural caves.
Occupation authorities have demolished or confiscated 217 Palestinian structures in “Firing Zone 918” since 2011, displacing 608 Palestinian residents, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Israel has designated nearly 30 percent of Israel-administered Area C, which comprises 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, as “firing zones”, according to the UN.
