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Israel Demolishes Shelters near Tubas, leaving two families homeless

12:00 Dec 10 2013 Khirbet Yarza (Yerza)

Description

Palestinian children in Khirbat Yarze, where the IDF destroyed homes on Tuesday, December 10 2013 (Image: Attef Abu-Arub, B’Tselem)

A water tank demolished by the IDF in Khirbat Yarze (Image: Attef Abu-Arub, B’Tselem)

Destroyed Palestinain tents in Khirbet Yarze (Image: Attef Abu-Arub, B’Tselem)
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TUBAS, December 10, 2013 (WAFA) – The Israeli army demolished Tuesday shelters used by Palestinian shepherds in Yarza village, east of Tubas in the Jordan Valley, according to witnesses.

They said two families living in these shelters have been left homeless as heavy rain, wind and cold temperature are expected to affect the Palestinian Territory in the coming days.

M.N./M.S.

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By Noam Sheizaf for 972Mag
|Published December 13, 2013

The Middle East is experiencing one of the worst winter storms to hit the region in years. All almost all of the mountain ranges from Syria to Sinai are covered in snow and the coastal areas are seeing very large amounts of rainfall. State and local authorities throughout the region are working to bring homeless people into shelters and rescue those caught in the storm.

Yet on Tuesday, just as the storm was approaching, the Israeli army’s Civil Administration in the West Bank destroyed tents and shacks belonging to Palestinian families in the northern part of the Jordan Valley, leaving some 40 people – including at least 18 children – homeless.

The army has denied building permits to = Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley for years, human rights organization B’Tselem reported. For some of the families at Khirbet Yarze, this is the second time their homes have been destroyed.

These photos were taken on Wednesday. Today (Friday) the Palestinian families were still there, living in tents provided by aid organizations. A person who visited them said that their most urgent concern was their livestock; farmers in the region have seen their animals die from the cold in the past few days and the army destroyed the shacks that protected the livestock in Khirbet Yarze.