Israeli forces demolish home for 8 Palestinian families in the Jordan Valley

Israeli forces demolished a house and several livestock barracks belonging to eight Palestinian families in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday.
 
The demolitions took place in the Wadi Al-Ahmar village in the central Jordan Valley and in the Zbeidat village near the Jordanian border, a week after Israeli forces demolished three Palestinian houses in the Jordan Valley village of Jiftlik.
 
"Me and my brother began to build the house in 2020 because we currently share our parents house and we need space, as we are 16 people including 12 children," Salameh Zbeidat, owner of the demolished house, told The New Arab.
 
"We indebted ourselves until 2024 to build it, and it was almost ready before they demolished it," said Zbeidat. "Now we have to keep paying for a house we don't have."

Palestinians inspect their housing and agricultural facilities that were demolished by Israeli occupation bulldozers in the Central Jordan Valley. pic.twitter.com/QeQu2s9DxJ

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 24, 2022

Zbeidat's family have been living on the land and farming it since the early 1950s when they arrived as refugees from the Negev desert after the Palestinian Nakba. However, the land is today located in 'Area C', where Israeli rarely gives Palestinians building permits.
 
"We made the legal request for a building permit and followed all the legal procedures," said Zbeidat.

"We even hired a lawyer who tried his best to buy us some time, but the Israeli authorities were determined to demolish the house," he added. 

Israel demolishes three homes and other structures in area of al-Jiftlik, Jordan Valley https://t.co/e3rIqRQZIv pic.twitter.com/1yYX1wKQMv

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) August 17, 2022

"It is the first time that Israeli forces demolish a cement-built structure in Zbeidat's village," Fares Fuqaha, a human rights activist in the Jordan Valley, told The New Arab.
 
"This is a clear escalation and most probably linked to the recent Israeli settlers' activities in the area trying to expand," Fuqaha remarked.

Israeli occupation bulldozers today bulldozed Palestinian-owned residential facilities in the Jordan valley region. pic.twitter.com/Ec5n96qIUm

— Chris Hutchinson (@ChrisHu34451470) August 24, 2022

Last Friday, the UN's Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that Israeli authorities had demolished at least 50 Palestinian structures in 'Area C' and east Jerusalem in the first two weeks of August.
 
According to the UN documentation, the demolitions displaced 55 Palestinians, including 28 children.