Violation: confiscation of 4 water tankers.
Location: Humsa – northern Jordan Valley.
Date: September 6, 2012.
Victims: four Bedouin families, a total of 63 people including 31 children.
Details:
Assuming control over the water sources in the West Bank has occupied a major part of the Israeli agenda since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967. For this reason, the Israelis has set a number of rules and regulations to serve that purpose in addition to the confiscation of lands, water, livestock, etc.
On September 9, 2012, Israeli troops broke into Humsa and confiscated 4 water tankers that were used to transport drinking water from the nearby Jiftlik village. The Israelis claimed that the tankers were confiscated for entering a closed military zone and penalized the owners.
Table 1: confiscations:
Victim | Family members | Children | Cattle (goats) | remarks |
Mohammad Bisharat | 11 | 5 | 100 | Previously confiscated and released |
Salem Bisharat | 27 | 14 | 140 | Previously confiscated and released |
Ahmad Bani Odeh | 16 | 7 | 58 | Previously confiscated and released |
Mustapha Bisharat | 9 | 5 | 77 | |
total | 63 | 31 | 375 |
Mohammad al Mallah, legal advisor of Tubas Governorate, commented: ‘the Israelis are trying to extinguish the Palestinian existence in the Jordan Valley; confiscation of water tankers is just another way to do it as it adds to the suffering of the people knowing that transportation of water is already a costly manner and now it will become even more costly‘.
Humsa is located 28 km to the south east of Tubas; the residents come from Al hadidiyya, 1.5 km to the east, a dwelling that was abruptly evicted by the Israelis. Since residing in Humsa in 2007, the Israeli Army and colonists attacks are unstoppable.
Humsa is surrounded by the following colonies:
Pigut: it was established in 1972 to reach a total area of 675 dunums; it is inhabited by 156 colonists.
Ro’i: it was established in 1976 to reach a total area of 264 dunums; it is inhabited by 117 colonists.
In addition, the locals have been harassed by the Mikrot (the Israeli Water Company) officers who claim that the farmers and herders action threatens the environment.
