On 24 April 2013 occupation forces burnt dozens of dunums (1 dunum = 1000 m2) of grazing lands in Khirbet Samra and gave evacuation orders to three bedouins communities in the northern Jordan Valley.

Yesterday the army set fire to dozens of grazing lands in a direct attempt to prevent the Palestinian people from bringing their animals to graze there.

These orders were given to the communities of Ein Il Hilwe, Al Maleh and Khirbet Samra, affecting around 600 individuals.

On 29 April 2013 the families will be forced to leave thier homes and the surrounding areas, depending on their specific order, for a period of between 10 and 24 hours. During this time all of the affected will have to wait this out several kilometers away from their lands, many of them being forced to sleep outside in the open air, often with young children. They will not know with any centainty whether they will be allowed to return, or how the army will treat their land and their belongings in their absence. 

The supposed reason that the army have given for this “necessary” evacuation is that they lands are required for military training, and thus that it will be dangerous for the communities to remain, despite not requesting the same “necessary” evacuation procedures from the surrounding settler communites. This is one of the many ways that the occupation forces use time and again to push people out of their land.

56 % of the Jordan Valley is considered by Israel to be a “firing area.” A large part of this area is inhabited by Palestinian communities who face daily harassment from the settlers and the army.