The Israeli occupation authorities today ordered a stop on the construction of dwellings to the east of Yatta town, south of Hebron, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committees Fuad al-Amour said that Israeli forces stormed Ma‘in village, which is part of al-Karmel town, where they handed a villager an order to stop pitching up his tent under the pretext that the area is classified as archaeological.
He added that the heavily-armed soldiers forced their way into Shi’b al Butum, one of the hamlets making up Masafer Yatta, and handed two brothers notices, ordering them to halt the construction of their family dwellings, each of which occupies an area of 60 square meters.
The soldiers also handed a villager of al-Juwaya community a notice, ordering him to stop the construction of his dwelling and water well.
Recently, Israel’s top court gave the army the green light to forcibly expel some 1,300 Palestinians living in twelve villages or hamlets making up the Masafer Yatta area, which relies heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood, marking one of the largest expulsions carried out by the State of Israel in recent decades.
Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living – livestock.
It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since 1980s and accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.
Israeli violations against the area include demolition of animal barns, homes and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.
The “Civil Administration” is the name Israel gives to the body administering its military occupation of the West Bank.
Soldiers in the oxymoronically named Civil Administration determine where Palestinians may live, where and when they may travel (including to other parts of the occupied territories like Gaza and East Jerusalem), whether they can build or expand homes on their own land, whether they own that land at all, whether an Israeli settler can takeover that land among others.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency