Israeli bulldozers destroyed a water pipeline supplying the northern Jordan Valley village of Ras al-Ahmar with fresh drinking water, before dawn on Wednesday.
According to a local official, Mutaz Bisharat, four Israeli bulldozers raided the Ras al-Ahmar village, along with seven Israeli military jeeps, and began to destroy the pipeline.
Bisharat added, according to Ma’an, that Israeli bulldozers razed the land for five hours, in order to create a military road.
He pointed out that the destroyed pipeline was used by local Palestinian farmers, for drinking water and crop irrigation.
Israeli forces destroyed a water pipeline of 1,500 meters and 6 inches in length, and created a 2.5 kilometer-long road linking the main road of Ras al-Ahmar village to the Msheibek area, which Israel declared a closed military zone.
Locals reported that, while Israeli forces razed the land, Palestinian residents were prevented from entering or exiting the area.
Khirbet Ras al-Ahmar is one of approximately 180 Palestinian villages, in the occupied West Bank, located on lands designated as ‘Area C’ — the area of the West bank under full Israeli security and civilian control — according to Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem.
The village is often raided by Israeli forces, who perform various military operations in the area, forcing residents of the village to leave their homes for several hours or even days.
Additionally, the village is a designated Israeli military “firing zone.”
Nearly 20 percent of the occupied West Bank has been declared “firing zones” since the 1970s, but, according to the UN, nearly 80 percent of these areas are not in fact used for military training.
Rights groups have accused Israel of declaring some parts of the West Bank as firing zones as an attempt to annex these areas.
(photo image: Alternative Information Center)
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