***image2***In Numan village, northeast of Bethlehem, and in Al-Walaja village, west of Bethlehem, people face a real danger of expulsions due to the occupation policy which has terrorized and strangled them while leaving them beneath the basic level of subsistence without access to water or electricity âuntil they be obliged to leave the area.â A captain in the occupation forces recently used these words while he and his forces were pressuring the people to leave their villages. Since 1967, the occupying forces have considered the lands of these villages to be within the Occupation municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. However, the people who live in these villages are not recognized as residents of Jerusalem or as owners of their lands.
In Numan, at 8 oâclock in the morning, Occupation bulldozers demolished two houses belonging to Nidal Ahmed Darâawi and his brother Khader. The Occupation forces claimed that the owners had âno building permitsâ and that the houses must be demolished. They invaded the village with a large number of forces and their bulldozers, declared Naman a âclosed military zone,â and then began demolishing the houses with all of their contents inside. They also forced the owners to leave the houses under the threat of using weapons against them. Nidal and his brother tried to defend their houses and clashed with the Occupation forces. When villagers from the area rushed to defend the brothers, the soldiers beat them with sticks and the butts of their guns and fired tear gas.
Nidal and Khader were living in two separate houses. The first house, owned by Nidal, his wife, and three kids, was 100 square meters. The second one was around 70 m square and was owned by Khader, his wife, and three kids too. Now all of them have been left homeless.
Later, at 12 pm, Occupation bulldozers demolished another two houses in the Ain Jwazeh neighborhood of Al-Walaja, west of Bethlehem. The Occupation bulldozers attacked the area, blocked its entrances, and declared the village a âmilitary closed zoneâ before they began destroying the houses. Two families of 15 people were forced out their houses under the threat of weapons and were not allowed to take their belongings.
It is worth mentioning that Occupation is planning to expand the settlement of HAR HOMA (west of Numan village) which is located on Abu Gnaim Mountain that is owned by Numan villagers. The Occupation is planning to add 8000 housing units to the settlement in addition to a park and a mall.
***image3***
***image4***