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 on Wednesday.
The demolitions took place in the Wadi Al-Ahmar village in the central Jordan Valley and in the Zbeidat village , 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 .
"We indebted ourselves until 2024 to build it, and ," 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.
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Zbeidat's family have been living on the land and farming it since the early 1950s when they arrived as refugees after the Palestinian Nakba. However, the land is today located in 'Area C', where Israeli rarely gives Palestinians building permits.
"We made the legal ," 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
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"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 .
"This is a clear escalation and most probably linked to trying to expand," Fuqaha remarked.
Israeli occupation bulldozers today bulldozed Palestinian-owned residential facilities in the Jordan valley region.
— Chris Hutchinson (@ChrisHu34451470)
Last Friday, the 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.