Israeli occupation forces demolished 20 seasonal shelters used by Palestinian farmers in the Al-Makhrouq area of Al-Jiftlik village, north of Jericho in the occupied Jordan Valley, on Thursday, local officials said.
Firas Jahalin, head of the Al-Jiftlik Village Council, said the demolished structures were built from plastic sheeting, metal panels, and cement, and that three were inhabited at the time.
He said farmers return to the area each September to cultivate their land, tend crops, and stay near their fields throughout the agricultural season.
“These shelters house farmers while they work in the area,” Jahalin said, warning that those returning for the coming agricultural season “will find them demolished and no longer there.”
Jahalin added that Israeli authorities have issued demolition notices for around 40 permanent homes belonging to Palestinian sheep-herding families in the Ad-Da’isat community of Al-Jiftlik, placing dozens of additional Palestinian structures under threat.
Ad-Da’isat is a small Palestinian herding and farming community within the wider Al-Jiftlik area. Al-Jiftlik and neighboring communities in the occupied Jordan Valley have long faced Israeli demolition orders and restrictions on construction.
Palestinian residents, many of whom depend on farming and livestock herding for their livelihoods, say such measures undermine their ability to remain on their land and sustain their traditional way of life.
