The homes of a Bedouin community in the south Hebron hills have been bulldozed by Israeli authorities, according to the Ma’an News Network.A total of five tents, which housed approximately 50 residents, were demolished early on Monday morning, together with the community’s olive trees and water sources. The latter consisted of a well and a water cistern and were filled with earth. The residents, who had moved to the area from a kilometer away due to harassment from local settlers, were devastated by the events. Residents are intending to rebuild their shattered community and will contact the Red Cross for tents.
The demolition comes less than a day after 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.
