The committee for planning and building of the so-called Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank notified three brothers from the town of Aqraba, Nablus district to get their animal barracks ( sheds) dismantled within 72 of the receipt of notifications.
The target barracks are located in the area of Al Hafir, Lifgjm basin, east of the town of Aqraba, whose the occupation authorities claim to be a closed military zone banned for Palestinian access. The area is situated near the colony of Gittit in the Jordan valley.
Table 1: Notified structures by name of owner, area, and family members
|
No.
|
Owner’s name
|
Area
M2
|
No. of family members
|
Of whom children
|
|
1
|
Zahi Fihmi Rihan Bani Minia
|
40
|
4
|
2
|
|
2
|
Zaher Fihmi Rihan Bani Minia
|
46
|
4
|
3
|
|
3
|
Atiya Fihmi Rihan Bani Minia
|
38
|
4
|
2
|
|
Total
|
124
|
13
|
7
|
|
Source: LRC field work
Photo 1: Some of the green houses that were set up by the
Gittit colonists on Aqrab town’s land
A glimpse on Agraba town:
The town of Aqraba, located 18 km to the south-east of Nablus city, is an example of how barbaric and outrageous the Israeli occupation is. The village has lost 281 dunums ( 1 dunum=1000 m2) for Israeli settlement out of its total area amounting to 34.660 dunums. Out of this area the Palestinians are allowed to build only on 1,350 dunum ( the town built up zone) which is far below the needAccording to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for the year 2007, the town’s population reached 8,180.
The colony of Gittit was forcibly built in 1973 at the expense of the territory of the town. According to the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Washington, the colony’s total population by the end of 2008 was 231, its municipal area was 1607 dunums of which 113 dunums built up zone.
Photo 2: Farmer Zahi Fihmi Bani Minia with his cattle
Whose shelter is threatened with demolition.
Whose shelter is threatened with demolition.
In Aqraba’s periphery there are several hamlets and small villages as followed: Khirbat Arma, Al Korum, Khirbet Abu Reisa, Khirbat Alrgoman, Khirbat Firas Eddin, Khirbet Tel Al Khashaba and Khalab at Tawil whose total population mounts to 500. There are several families in the town as followed: Bani Jaber, Almiadma, Bani Jamei’, Bani Fadel and ad Daily.
Photo 3: Part of Aqraba town facing eviction.
The unemployment rate in the town reached more than 50% due to the policy of the Israeli occupation since the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada in 2000 and the closure of the territories of 1948, preventing Palestinians from access to work where their primary source of income became more dependent on government jobs, private sector as well as agriculture in addition to small industrial workshops inside the town
Israeli practices in the town of Aqraba:
The occupation authorities continue to narrow the living potentials for the residents of the town where they seek to displace the people from their homes that where even built before the occupation of 1967, especially those located within zone C which is under full Israeli control. Since 1998 until today, approximately 45 agricultural and residential facility have been demolished in the Bedouin localities in the area. This led to eviction and displacement of dozens of families and herders after the takeover of their agricultural land and preventing them from exploiting it, noting that this land is one of the best land in the area. At the same time, the colonists enjoy all the governmental privileges granted for the development of the agricultural settlements that are scattered in the region.
The Israeli policy of forced eviction is the most pursued by the occupation authorities and army in the Jordan Valley where they try to empty the land of its legitimate owners and prevent access to them in preparation for Israeli settlement activities.
The detention of pastoralists and livestock owners and preventing them from grazing in the area, confiscating and seizing of their sheep and cattle, opening fire at their cattle as well as the deportation of farmers and the demolition of their residential and agricultural installations and exposing them to all the daily harassment are amongst the measures being taken by the occupation authorities. All this is to force them to vacate the land and leaving it as a prelude to confiscation.
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[1] GIS department at LRC
[2] Aqraba local municipal council
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
