Israel moves to grab more Palestinian land

Israel moves to grab more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank as residents are given demolition orders, Press TV reports.

On Thursday, Israeli forces handed 12 demolition orders to Palestinian residents in al-Khalil (Hebron), which includes six houses and six water wells.

The orders were handed to residents of the village of Sa’ir in the southern al-Khalil hills. The orders are meant to confiscate more land from the Palestinians to expand illegal Israeli settlements in the area.

The Israeli military has closed the village and given the residents one month to file a complaint before carrying out the demolitions.

Human rights groups say that the demolition orders are part of a strategy by the regime in Tel Aviv to annex the southern al-Khalil hills to Israel and a greater strategy to maintain military control over the Jordan Valley, the Negev and the southern al-Khalil hills.

“This is a part of a strategic policy that the occupiers are carrying out in the area. They are always trying to prevent the Palestinians from living and constructing (houses). It is part of a greater plan that Tel Aviv is carrying out in the West Bank so that the residents will not be able to expand their properties in the area, and they will eventually leave. The Israeli army and settlers are both targeting the Hebron hills,” said Naser al-Rais, a Palestinian lawyer and activist.

A new injunction signed on December 25 by the head of the Israeli military’s central command bans all Palestinians from appealing demolition orders to the Israeli military courts. Instead, they can only take them to the Israeli high court, which is a more lengthy and costly process for the residents.

They are also banned from using Palestinian lawyers in the Israeli high court. The residents of Sa’ir already live in cramped conditions in their village as they have been prohibited by the Israeli authorities to build new houses.

They explained that if the demolition orders are carried out, they will be left homeless with nowhere to go. They will now take the case to the high court.

This week, Israeli forces demolished dozens of Palestinian homes in the Jordan Valley, leaving villagers without shelter in the winter cold.

The Israeli authorities also seized all shelter and humanitarian aid provided to Palestinian residents whose homes had been demolished by the army.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over the rising trend of demolition of Palestinian homes across the occupied territories.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.