Violation: confiscation of tents and shacks that were ought to be distributed to people of Humsa.
Date: May 10, 2012.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.
Victims: 17 families of Humsa.
Details:
As part of the Israeli brutal campaign against Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley area; the Israeli Occupation Army confiscated 17 tent and sheds, a donation of the Palestinian Authority to support the victims of previous Israeli demolitions and to aid them in their struggle. Israeli troops obstructed Ibrahim Bsharat truck which was loaded with the tents and led him towards al Hamra checkpoint where they stripped him of the truck and the load and penalized him. It must be noted that the families in Humsa has been targeted several times with demolitions of their residences, barns, tool sheds, etc. Needless to say, Humsa have been standing for decades and will remain despite the Israeli ethnic cleansing attempts. 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. It must be noted that in July, 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the removal of Humsa dwelling based on a paper presented by the Israeli Occupation Army saying that ‘Palestinians have been building prior to acquiring legal permits from the Army in an area classified ‘C’ according to Oslo’. In addition, the Israeli Army claimed that ‘Palestinian farmers and herders often attack ‘settlers’ by impeding them with stones and some of them have fire arms’.
However, residents denied any claims of owning fir arms. Besides, they said that their houses are primitive and some of them are just tents; these houses can be dismantled and moved any time. It must be noted that the Israeli Supreme Court suggested an ‘alternative’ dwelling for the people of Humsa (127 people). They suggested ‘Atouf, 5 km to the east of Tamoun which was rejected. ‘Atouf is a bare land which lacks water sources.
