On August 22, 2012 , and in a new chapter added to the series of Israeli crimes against Palestinian lands and properties, the so called ‘the Custodian of State land property’ at the Israeli Civil Administration issued military evacuation and Stop Work orders targeting around 2500 dunums of lands owned by Palestinian farmers and investors in Deir Hijla and al Zur areas southwest of the city of Jericho, in the Jordan Valley in addition to a numbr of structures under the pretext that these lands are classified as “State lands”. The lands are planted with Palm trees.
The recently issued military orders in Deir Hijleh and Az Zur areas target Islamic Waqf property. This property has been leased by the waqf to a number of Palestinian farmers and agricultural companies for the exploitation of lands and planting of palm trees to support the economy of the area. Table 1 below gives a list of the effected Palestinian farmers and companies in the area:
Table 1: Palestinian farmers and companies targeted by the Israeli Military orders in Deir Hijla and Az Zur area – Jericho Governorate | |
No. | Affected People / Companies |
1 | Shawkt ‘Abid al Rahman Hoshiya |
2 | Mohamad ‘Afif al Qawasmi |
3 | Sharikt Tumor Ard al Ribat ( Date Company ‘Ard al Ribat ‘) |
4 | Majed Jamel ‘Aasi |
5 | Feisal Mohamad Hamd Kharuosh |
6 | Maamoun Mohamad Jamel Jaser |
7 | Ahmad ‘Abed al Rahman ‘Audt Alah |
8 | Mohamad Ghazy al Qawasmi |
9 | Mus’ab Ahmad Yousif Thafir |
10 | Jamal Mohamad ‘Iqealan ‘Abu Jirar’, Naji Samara Samara |
11 | Al Sultan Fresh Fruit Company (Basam Rashad Rashed Sunqrut) |
12 | ‘Ala Al Din ‘Adnan Darwish Khirbawi |
13 | Ibrahim Hasn Di’ek and ‘Abed Rabu Yousef Dahlan |
14 | Diya al Din Fawzi ‘Abid al Hafeth ‘Abid |
15 | Ayman Mohamad ‘Abid Alla al Tawil |
Source: Islamic Waqf – Jericho Governorate 2012 | |
Table 2 Below gives a list of the Israeli Military orders:
Table 2: Targeted lands and Structures in Deir Hijla and Az Zur areas – Jericho Governorate | ||
No. | Evacuation Military Order # | Targeted Area |
1 | 317 dunums | |
2 | 116 dunums | |
3 | 400 dunums | |
4 | 110 dunums | |
5 | 260 dunums | |
6 | 600 dunums | |
7 | 85 dunums | |
8 | 47 dunums | |
9 | 235 dunums | |
10 | 135 dunums | |
Total | 2305 dunums | |
Source : Islamic Waqf – Jericho Governorate 2012 | ||
 | |
Some of the Military Orders also targeted structures in the area, two Barrackses, one of them is owned by Diya al Din Fawzi ‘Abid al Hafeth ‘Abid and is used for packaging dates while the second is a Plastic House owned by Al Sultan Fresh Fruit Company (Basam Rashad Rashed Sunqrut). See Table 3
Table 3: Targeted lands and Structures in Deir Hijla nd Az Zur areas – Jericho Governorate | |||
No. | Demolition Military Order # | Owner | Targeted Structures |
1 | 150623 | Diaa’ al Din Fawzi ‘Abid al Hafeth ‘Abid | —- |
2 | 150624 | Bassam Sunqrut | 150 square meters |
3 | 150625 | Jamal Abu Jrar | 500 square meters |
Source : Islamic Waqf – Jericho Governorate 2012 | |||
| |
|
Israel claims that the targeted land are classified as ‘state lands’, but in reference to the OSLO II agreement signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1995, the targeted lands are located within the lands classified as ‘Area A[1]‘ and ‘Area C[2]‘ (according to the signed agreement) and is basically an Islamic Waqf land as indicated by the director of Jericho endowments Sheikh Noah Alzagari. It is worth mentioning that the targeted lands are located along the Israeli bypass road number 90, which has carved out a large section of this land in the past years and reduced the space available for the Palestinians to cultivate, Map 1:
|
The Palm Tree Farmer’s Association in Jericho reported that If Israel goes on with its plans to evacuate the area of Deir HIjla and Az Zur as stipulated in the military orders, around 33000 Palm trees will be affected and the total loss is estimated at $25 millions (the Palm Tree Farmer’s Association – Jordan Valley). This in turn will cripple the Palestinian agriculture and economy sectors.
To conclude
The Jordan Valley area is considered of great importance in terms of agricultural and economic development to Palestinian community. Right after Israel occupied the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip back in 1967, the successive Israeli Governments worked hard and devoted their full energy and resources to control the Jordan Valley area through several procedures including the building of Israeli settlements, military bases, declaring vast areas of lands in the area as ‘closed military areas’, declaring other areas as nature reserves where no Palestinian building and land utilization was allowed, and the construction of Israeli bypass roads. As a result, most Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley area were targeted with various military orders declaring the confiscation and annexation of their lands in the area for the benefit of Israeli settlements. These procedures have severely affected the development in the area and the lives of Palestinian farmers, land owners and companies living and working there.
[1] Area A: In Area A the Palestinian National Authority has full control.
[2] Area C: In Area C the Israeli authorities retained complete control.
