Israel razes homes of Bedouin families in West Bank

Israeli forces raided Monday Bedouin communities in northeast of Jerusalem, demolishing "illegal" homes belonging to dozens of families, officials and local media reported.

Palestinian media reported that Israeli Civil Administration officials and army forces arrived at Bir al-Maksub and Wadi Shneisel, impoverished communities in the Khan al-Ahmar area, and demolished nine homes. About 60 people, including 39 minors, lived in these homes.

At the Abu-Falah community which includes about 150 people, two residential shacks were demolished.

In addition, the forces demolished the homes of four families at the a-Sa'idi community.

A spokesman with the Civil Administration confirmed to Xinhua that demolition of residential structures was carried out on Monday.

"The structures were built without permits on state lands near Ma'aleh Adumim," the spokesman said, referring to a Jewish settlement northeast of Jerusalem.

He noted that the residents have neither filed applications for building permits nor attended a hearing at committee that supervises the construction in the West Bank.

Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman with B'tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said that 14 Bedouin families left homeless with no shelter in harsh weather conditions.

She said that the demolition was part of an "ongoing abuse" of the Bedouin communities in the Ma'aleh Adumim area, aiming at expelling them from their lands.

She added that demolition has been on the rise over the past months, with homes in the Jerusalem area, the Jordan Valley and South Hebron Hills being demolished almost weekly.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and has controlled it ever since, in a move that has not been recognized by the international community. Endit