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Activists join Palestinians as
they rebuild their houses that were demolished by Israeli bulldozers in
the West Bank village of Anata, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, on July
2. Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian
villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an
Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster." (AFP
Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)
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Israel is seeking a court's backing to raze eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to legal documents, in what an Israeli rights group called a potential "humanitarian disaster."
In a written response to Israel's
High Court which had requested an explanation, the state said the
demolition orders pertained to permanent structures built by
Palestinians on military firing ranges, contrary to orders barring
civilians from the area while exercises are in progress.
"The respondent is prepared to
allow the petitioners to enter the firing zone for the purposes of
tending farmland and grazing livestock when there are no exercises under
way (on weekends and Israeli holidays)," the response said.
It said it would also offer farmers access to the land for another two months each year, to be agreed between the sides.
The Association for Civil Rights
in Israel, which together with residents of the villages of Majaz,
Tabban, Sfai, Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, and Kharuba, is asking
the court to block the demolitions and says the villagers have been in
the area longer than the Israeli military.
"Most of them were born and
raised in these villages to families that have been living in the area
for several decades -- long before 1967," it said, referring to Israel's
occupation of the West Bank during the Six-Day War of that year.
It says the move was likely to
cause "an immediate humanitarian disaster for almost 2,000 souls, the
destruction of villages, and the eradication of a remarkable way of life
that has endured for centuries."
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