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The United Nations, Ireland and four other European members of the Security Council have called on Israel to halt the demolition of Bedouin settlements in the Jordan Valley and to have humanitarian access to the community living in Humsa Al-Baqaia.
In a joint statement at the end of a monthly Security Council session on the conflict in the Middle East, Ireland, Estonia, France, Norway and the United Kingdom said they were “deeply concerned about the recent demolitions and repeated seizures of items, including the EU and donor funded structures implemented by the Israeli authorities at Humsa Al-Bqaia in the Jordan Valley. “
He said the concern also focused on around 70 people living in the Bedouin community, including 41 children.
The statement read: “We reiterate our call to Israel to stop demolitions and confiscations.
“We also call on Israel to allow full, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access to the Humsa Al-Baqaia community.”
Humsah al-Baqia is located in the Jordan Valley, a fertile and strategic terrain stretching from Lake Tiberias to the Dead Sea, which has emerged as a flash point in the fight for the West Bank.
It is in the so-called Zone C of the West Bank, an occupied Palestinian territory that remains under full Israeli military control.
Under Israeli military law, Palestinians cannot build structures in the area without permits, which are generally rejected, and demolitions are common.
The UN envoy for the region, Tor Wennesland, also expressed concern about demolitions and land confiscations.
It said Israeli security forces had “demolished or confiscated 80 structures” in the Bedouin community “in an Israeli-declared shooting area in the Jordan Valley.”
He said the actions had “displaced 63 people, including 36 children multiple times, and followed a similar demolition in November 2020.”
Wennesland said: “I urge Israel to cease the demolition and confiscation of Palestinian property throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and allow the Palestinians to develop their communities.”
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