Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Israeli occupation authorities on Saturday ordered ten Palestinian families from the northern Jordan Valley to leave their homes, a Palestinian official said. Aref Daraghmeh, the head of Wadi Al-Malih village's council and in charge of Palestinian Bedouins affairs n the Jordan Valley, said that the Israeli authorities ordered the families to leave their families in the al-Burj and al-Maiteh areas by Tuesday to make way for Israeli military training. Daraghmeh said that the eviction of the ten families from their homes and agricultural lands “aim at confiscating their lands for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the area.” He added that the “Israeli army usually leaves bombs and explosives that endangers the lives of local residents and mainly the children.” The Palestinian official said that the Israeli Civil Administration, an Israeli military department responsible for coordinating civil issues between Israeli government and the Palestinians, distributed eviction orders to some 250 Palestinian families in the Jordan Valley in recent months under the pretext that their homes are located in or near areas designed as “firing zones”. He added that around 18 percent of West Bank land is a closed military area for the purposes of military training, often termed “firing zones”. Daraghmeh said that the majority of these zones are located in the Jordan Valley and along the eastern slopes of the Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates. More than 5,000 Palestinians reside in such areas in around 38 communities, mostly Bedouin or herding communities, many of which existing before the areas were designated as closed military zones The Palestinian Authority wants these areas be part of the future Palestinian state. 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. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met for the sixth round of talks since negotiations were restarted at the end of July in Washington in an attempt to solve the final status issues; Jerusalem, refugees, boundaries, settlements and security. The parties, led by chief Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, made the talks under a complete media blackout, with the Israeli side not saying where or when they will take place, or even confirming their existence. Palestinian negotiator and member of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Central Committee, Nabil Sha'ath, said that the six rounds of talks did not achieve any progress.
