Description

JENIN, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) led military bulldozers into the Al-Farisiyya and Al-Meita areas in the Salt Valley in the northern Jordan Valley, and destroyed 13 structures owned by Arab Bedouins.

The force crushed eight homes in Al-Meita in the upper Salt Valley where Bedouins have been residing for many years, although the homes were remote from Israeli military camps. It destroyed six more buildings in neighboring Al-Farisiyya.

Damage was inflicted on homes and barns as military jeeps took guard to protect the bulldozers. Other hamlets and shelters used for animals have been destroyed within the last few months in the same area.

Locals say Israeli forces seek to restrict shepherds in the area in order to curtail their usage of the land for grazing and it also seeks to push them out.

The Salt Valley is characterized by warm and plentiful water resources. It is also an agricultural and pastoral area valuable to many farmers in the provinces of Tubas and Tamoun. There are five Bedouin hamlets and communities that live there.

The IOF handed locals notices in April 2010 declaring the area a closed military zone and forbidding Palestinians from roaming there or using the land.