Published Thursday 02/06/2011 15:26
 

 

TUBAS (Ma’an) — About 200 Palestinians were forced to leave their village in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday, locals said, instructed by Israeli forces to vacate the northern West Bank area as a training mission was conducted.

According to villagers, who said soldiers and civil administration officials instructed them to move two kilometers outside the village of Khirbet Yarza, they were not told when they would be permitted to return.

Residents told Ma’an that they feared the move preempted their permanent expulsion from the area.

The Saudi-Arabia based Arab News service said Wednesday that settlements observer Ahmed Al-As’aad reported the incident, and quoted head of the village council Mokhles Masa’ed as saying the village had been declared a closed military zone.