On 30 October, Occupation forces demolished 36 structures in the Bedouin community of Maghayir al-Dir. This demolition, which has affected 97 persons from the Milehat and Kaâabneh families, is part of a larger campaign targeting vulnerable communities in an effort to push them away from settlements.
***image3***The Bedouin community of Mughayir al-Dir is located on the western edge of the Jordan Valley, several kilometers northeast of the Maâale Mikhmas settlement. The people of Mughayir al-Dir have been living in this area for 35 years. They were forcefully moved once in the 1980s when Occupation forces built a military training base in the area where the Bedouin were living. With the construction of the base, the community was transferred to an area not more than seven kilometers away.
In the first days of September, a representative of the Civil Administration distributed demolition threats to a number of families. The representative told the families that the demolitions would be carried out sometime during the coming month. The affected families appealed to the Palestinian Authority to intercede, but never obtained a response.
On the morning of October 30, an Occupation military force arrived at the community. According to Hasan Malihat, âOn Thursday morning, at 9:30 and without prior warning, and before the issuing of a decision by the court, the army, police and bulldozers began the demolition operation against the sheep pens and residential buildings [â¦] The people were not able to take anything with them when they fled. But the community had prepared themselves for any sudden demolition operation, and the things that remained [in the targeted homes] were not important and are not worth speaking of. [â¦] On the same day, the International Red Cross set up five tents for five of the [displaced] families. The remaining families took shelter with relatives.â
97 people were affected by this operation, 51 of whom are children. Bulldozers razed 36 structures, 23 residential and 13 animal pens. The community is located next to the Mitzpe Dani outpost, which is an expansion of Maâale Mikhmas. Occupation forces frequently target Bedouin communities, such as the Jahalin around Jerusalem or the communities of al-Hadidiya and Furush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley, with aim of expelling them and securing the land for settlement expansion.
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