[Thursday Evening, January 30, 2014] The Israeli army demolished, on Thursday, at least 50 structures, including residences, displacing 13 families in the northern Jordan Valley, as a result , according to a local official.According to a report by WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, the army brought bulldozers to demolish the homes, animal barns and other structures which residents of Khirbet Um al-Jimal had been using for their daily living, said Aref Daraghmeh, head of the al-Maleh local council.
He described the Israeli measure against Khirbet Um al-Jimal and other similar locales in the northern Jordan Valley area as “another crime on the long list of crimes committed by the occupation forces in the area.”
Israel is seeking to empty the Jordan Valley of its Palestinian residents, who are mainly Bedouin, as it plans to keep it under its control in any future deal with the Palestinians.
Khirbet Um al-Jimal is notable for the substantial ruins of a Byzantine and early Islamic town which are clearly visible above the ground, as well as an older Roman village (locally referred to as al-Herri) located to the southwest of the Byzantine ruins.
