Israeli authorities ordered today a number of Palestinian families in the northern Jordan Valley region to leave their homes and make way for Israeli military training in the area.
Muataz Besharat, who monitors Israeli violations in the area, told WAFA that the Israeli army handed notices to a number of families ordering them to leave their homes for several days next week in order to make way for the training.
Sealed Off and Forgotten: What You Should Know about Israel’s ‘Firing Zones’ in the West Bank | Opinion by: Ramzy Baroud https://t.co/4MPdWvdML0
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 14, 2020
The Jordan Valley covers an area of about 1.6 million dunams (1,600 km2) and constitutes around 30 percent of the total occupied West Bank. According to a previous government report, the Valley includes about 280,000 dunams of arable land, 50,000 of which are still used by Palestinians and 27,000 by illegal Jewish settlers.
The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli military control, despite being within the West Bank. Meanwhile, at least 44 percent of the total land in the Jordan Valley has been reappropriated by Israeli forces for military purposes and training exercises.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
