The Ma’an News Agency reports that Israel has continued its campaign against Khirbet Tana by confiscating 20 portable water tankers on Monday morning.The tankers were brought into the village after Israeli military forces blocked the village’s wells during a demolition. Khirbet Tana has been demolished six times recently. According to Ma’an, a group of military jeeps entered the village and removed all of the water carriers. These were used to provide drinking water for both residents and animals.
Israel has classified the land occupied by the village as ‘state land’ and refuses to issue building permits for the villagers. After a recent demolition, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Maxwell Gaylard, issued a statement condemning ‘the demolition of temporary tented structures sheltering families from the weather in Khirbet Tana’.
In a visit to the area, Gaylard noted that ‘under international law, Israel, as the occupying power in the oPt, is prohibited from destroying property belonging to individuals or communities except when absolutely required by military operations’. In 2010, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted at least 350 demolished structures in Area C.
