Published Wednesday 20/07/2011 (updated) 21/07/2011 00:34

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=406858

 
 

JERICHO (Ma’an) — Israeli forces demolished a farm structure on Wednesday in the Az-Zbeidat village in the central Jordan Valley.

An Agricultural committee reported that an animal barn belonging to farmer Fayez Ahmad Ali was destroyed by soldiers.

The barn had been built along with ten others as part of a project implemented by the committee to support farmers in the Jordan Valley.

The cost of each barn was 1,372 Euros.

The Union for Agricultural Work Committees denounced the demolition, saying that such actions are illegitimate and violate the basic civil rights of Palestinians.

The policy of demolishing structures in the Jordan Valley is part of a systematic campaign to expel Palestinians from the area, it added.

The demolished barn was built on February 23, 2010 in an area adjacent to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Argaman.

The Israeli settlement of Argaman has annexed more than 800 dunams of land belonging to Az-Zbeidat and the Tamoun Valley.

It is an agricultural and residential settlement.

Over 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlement building has been repeatedly condemned by the international community and is a major obstacle in the peace process.