IOA decides to raze eight Palestinian villages south of Al-Khalil

[P F Tinmore]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has ordered the demolition of eight small Palestinian villages south of Al-Khalil mountain, Hebrew press said on Monday.

Ha’aretz daily said that the eight villages are inhabited by 1500 Palestinians, adding that the villages’ lands would be used for army maneuvers.

IOA decides to raze eight Palestinian villages south of Al-Khalil

 

[P F Tinmore]

Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster."

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which together with residents of the villages of Majaz, Tabban, Sfai, Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, and Kharuba, is asking the court to block the demolitions and says the villagers have been in the area longer than the Israeli military.

"Most of them were born and raised in these villages to families that have been living in the area for several decades -- long before 1967," it said, referring to Israel's occupation of the West Bank during the Six-Day War of that year.

It says the move was likely to cause "an immediate humanitarian disaster for almost 2,000 souls, the destruction of villages, and the eradication of a remarkable way of life that has endured for centuries."

Israel seeks court OK to raze West Bank villages - Yahoo! News