Israel’s Military Exercises Ravage Occupied Palestine’s Jordan Valley

On June 2015, the Israeli army displaced hundreds of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied Jordan Valley, forcing them from their homes and lands for seven days during which military exercises were held in the area. In the course of the military exercises, grazing lands essential to the survival of the pastoralist communities were set on fire and water tanks were pierced by bullets. In testimony given before the Knesset, the Israeli military made it clear that the exercises were specifically intended to destroy “illegal” buildings and persuade residents to abandon the affected areas.

Palestinian farmers make efforts to extinguish fires started during an Israeli military maneuver in the occupied Jordan Valley.

Palestinian farmers make efforts to extinguish fires started during an Israeli military maneuver in the occupied Jordan Valley. (Photo: B’Tselem)

During the Knesset session these policies came under attack by Hadash MK Dov Khenin (Joint List), who likened the position to that of Firing Zone 918 in the South Hebron Hills: “After the Palestinians are expelled on grounds that it’s a firing zone, settlers are allowed to take control of the land. We must immediately stop these transfer practices under the auspices of the IDF.”

Since the beginning of the year, Palestinians in the Jordan Valley have been displaced during 20 days of military training, according to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization which has documented the displacement of the residents and its impact on the lives of their communities. In all some 6,200 Palestinians from 38 communities live in “military training” areas of the West Bank, which encompass 18% of the occupied Palestinian territory’s total area – more than “Area A” which is under direct Palestinian control, which covers 17.7% of the West Bank.

On June 10 and 16, ten families from the community of Khirbet Humsah were forced to leave their homes for seven hours beginning from 7.00 am. The families, totaling 69 persons, 43 of them minors, were trekked several kilometers from their homes, sometimes using carts dragged by tractors and sometimes on foot.

When they returned to their homes on June 10, they discovered that grazing areas and cultivated farmland had gone up in flames, apparently the result of live shelling, while water tanks used to water the flocks were pierced by bullets. They also reported finding unexploded ammunition close to their homes. The same families, together with five others from the same community, a total of 91 peoples including 51 minors, were forced out again on June 22 and 25 from 6am. Again soldiers engaged in extensive shooting, resulting in the starting of fires in grazing areas used by the residents some two kilometers from their homes.

According to B’Tselem, the military maneuvers “cause unreasonable disruption to the lives of the communities in the area. The residents are required to leave their homes for many hours, sometimes on short notice of just a few hours. In some cases, they do not have any proper alternative location, and are left exposed to the harsh weather conditions that prevail in the Jordan Valley in the summer. In these conditions they must care for their families, from young children to the elderly, and find shelter, water and food. This hardship is particularly severe at present due to the month-long Ramadan fasting. The Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley rely almost exclusively for their livelihood on grazing flocks and growing crops on land next to their homes. Extensive damage to farmland and grazing areas due to gunfire, fires, and the passage of tanks and military vehicles through the fields jeopardizes the communities’ very ability to survive in the area.”

Under international humanitarian law, an occupying power is permitted to act in the territory it occupies for just two reasons: the good of the local population and immediate military needs relating to the military’s operations in the occupied territory. As an occupying power, therefore, Israel is not entitled to use the land for general military needs, such as training or military exercises, says B’Tselem, and “is certainly not permitted to damage the livelihood of protected residents on this pretext and to act to expel them from their homes. Israel must halt immediately all temporary displacements of communities for the purpose of military training.”

Related: