Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished several structures near the West Bank city of Jericho, under the pretext they were build in Area C without the needed building permits from Israeli authorities. Majed Al-Fityani, the governor of Jericho and Jordan Valley, said that the bulldozers backed by security forces and Israeli Civil Administration destroyed four homes and five agricultural structures in the al-Nowai'meh area, to the north of Jericho. Fityani said that the homes were owned by Saleh al-Rashaydeh, Ibrahim al-Zayed, Tayseer al-Rashaydeh and Ismail Al-Rashaydeh. He estimated the losses to be in hundreds of thousands of Israeli shekels. The governor said that the Israeli move aims at “displacing the Palestinian residents from the rifts of Jordan Valley.” He added that the Palestinian Authority “is determined to confront the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians and their properties.” He said the PA will rebuild the structures Israeli forces demolish in the area. The Israeli Civil Administration distributed eviction orders to some 250 Palestinian families in northern Jordan Valley early this year under the pretext that their homes are located in or near areas designed as “firing zones”. According to the Oslo Accords, Area A is under Palestinian administrative and security control, Area B under Palestinian administrative control but under Israeli security one, the Area C is under full Israeli control. Area C, which today constitutes about 60 percent of West Bank land, is a geographic area created in negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1995. The destruction of villages and the expulsion of villagers has been an integral part of the Zionist project since 1948. In April 2008, the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a decision calling for the destruction of al-Aqaba village, located on the slope of the Jordan valley, and the transfer of its 300 inhabitants. The same policy was also carried out against vulnerable communities; the Jahalin and other groups of Bedouin as well as small villages in the Jordan Valley. Expulsions are followed by the expropriation of the land for the expansion of Jewish settlement.
