On 11th November 2012, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) gave oral orders to four families in Fasay’il al Wusta to leave their homes and the area.

Ten years ago, Ali Aehsan Abdallah Abeyad moved from near Fasay’il spring – which is now dry due to Israeli deep drilling to serve the colonies and their agriculture – to where he has been living since at the edge of Fasay’il al Wusta with his three sons and their families, twenty five people altogether.

Six years ago, the families were given demolition orders for their houses. However, through court proceedings they succeeded to obtain a ‘freezing order,’ which remains in place until this date and has protected the families from the many violent demolitions affecting their neighbours and most of Fasay’il al Wusta throughout the last twelve months especially.

Despite the ‘freezing order’ the IOF is now seeking to evict the families from the area, threatening the demolition of their houses if the do not leave. The family was given a ‘grace period’ of twenty days to consider what they will do. Thereafter, the IOF will seek a court order if the family decides to stay.

Speaking to Ali Ehsan Abdallah Abeyad, he reported that the IOF told the families to leave the area where they are staying to find a new place in the area of Fasay’il al Fauqa. He said that the community there is already squeezed, with Tomer and Petza’el colonies encroaching on the Palestinian lands, so that they would not find anywhere to go there. For him and his family it is clear that there is nowhere to go, and that they will stay where they are now.

While houses can and always will be rebuilt, forcible evictions clearly indicate the Israeli Military Authority’s intention to confiscate Palestinian lands. Issuing evacuation orders is an alarming trend and warning signal, which can only be met with a strong affirmation that the Palestinian communities of the Jordan Valley are here to stay and will forever persist in their rightful struggle to peacefully exist in their lands.