Ramallah
(AsiaNews / Agencies) - The army is evacuating more than 1,000 Palestinian
residents of the Jordan Valley and using their territories for military
exercises. The
mass evacuation is the largest of the past ten years. The
measure came into effect at midnight last night in the villages of Wadi Al-Maleh, Ein Hilwah, Wadi
al-Faw, al-Maita, al-Bur and other Palestinian communities in the
area. The
authorities issued the order a few weeks ago, sparking protests. The military maneuvers will
last about 24 hours. The
inhabitants can return only with the consent of the army. According
to local sources, the military did not bother to provide a refuge for the night
to nearly 100 families concerned. Many
of them will have to sleep in their car, or by friends and relatives in nearby
villages, others will be forced to sleep outdoors facing the night frost. Many
fear for their homes and the few crops that could be demolished by the
military.
All
affected villages are located in the "fire zone", a militarized area
on the border between the West Bank and Jordan, where any kind of human
settlement is forbidden. The
Palestinian population located in this area are considered illegal by the
Israeli authorities. However,
over the years, Israel has allowed dozens of settler families to build
settlements and cultivate fields, preventing the owners from getting back their
land. Since
1997, the settlements have occupied more than 5 square kilometers of arable
land, in a land almost desert whose only source of water is the Jordan river
and a few hundred wells.
During
the 1970s, many parts of the "fire zone" were reopened, but the
Palestinians have been allowed to return only in 1993 after the Oslo accords. To
date, the area of ​​prohibition covers about 18% of the West Bank. Most
of these spaces are located in the Jordan Valley, where about 3,400 people now
live.
Many
communities in these areas lack basic services such as water, electricity, gas
and suffer the continuing demolition of their homes. In
the "fire zone" schools and hospitals are almost non-existent. Those
present were built by NGOs or charitable organizations and are also subject to
demolition orders by the Israeli army.