Israel criticized over West Bank home demolitions

Israel has come under heavy criticism after the military demolished several homes and other structures in a Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank this week as much of the world's attention was focused on the U.S. election.

On Friday, a group of European diplomats visited the community of Khirbet Humsu in the northern Jordan Valley in a show of support for the Palestinian community against what an EU representative said was a violation of international law.

Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment on Tuesday — U.S. Election Day — demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. The Israeli military said the structures were built without permission.

Palestinian sit in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

B'Tselem said the troops also demolished livestock enclosures, storage sheds, cooking tents, solar panels, water containers and feeding troughs, and that they confiscated 30 tons of livestock feed, a vehicle and two tractors.

Abed al Ghani Awad, a resident of the impoverished Bedouin community, said life was already difficult before the demolitions.

“We suffer from all different kinds of weather, heat and cold and water scarcity,” he said, adding that the closest source of water is 14 kilometers (9 miles) away.

A Palestinian walks by destroyed tents in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

European Union Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, who led the delegation, said it was “very clear” that the demolition of the structures “is contrary to international law.”

Yvonne Helle, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said in a statement earlier this week that it was the single largest demolition of its kind in the past decade.

“Their vulnerability is further compounded by the onset of winter and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” she said of the Bedouins of of Khirbet Humsu. “Some of the demolished structures had been donated as humanitarian assistance.”

Palestinian women and children in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

The Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank says an “enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were “illegally constructed” in a firing range. It declined to respond to questions about the broader policy of home demolitions.

Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 war and has established Jewish settlements there that are now home to nearly 500,000 people. The West Bank is home to more than 2.5 million Palestinians, and is seen as the main component of a future Palestinian state.

The Jordan Valley is home to around 60,000 Palestinians, according to the U.N., but nearly 90% of the land is part of what is known as Area C, the three-fifths of the West Bank under complete Israeli control. In the Jordan Valley, it includes closed military areas and around 50 agricultural settlements housing some 12,000 Israelis.

A Palestinian sifts through destroyed tents in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

Palestinians are barred from those areas, and even on the lands they own, they are forbidden from digging wells or building any kind of infrastructure without hard-to-get military permits. From 2009 until 2016, less than 2% of more than 3,300 permit applications in Area C were successful, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, citing official statistics.

Palestinians who build without authorization are at risk of having their homes and other structures destroyed at any time, even years after they have been erected.

Even before the demolitions in Khirbet Humsu, B’Tselem said 111 homes have been destroyed in the West Bank so far this year — the highest annual number since 2016 — leaving 458 people homeless, including 228 minors.

Palestinians collect grain aftre Israeli military destroyed storage structure n Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

The demolitions underscore Israel's total control of the Jordan Valley despite its decision to pause outright annexation as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement reached earlier this year to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates.

President Donald Trump's Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would allow Israel to annex up to a third of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. Israel insists annexation has only been paused temporarily.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is opposed to annexation. He is expected to discard the Trump plan if he becomes president and press Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks.

A Palestinian walks by destroyed tents in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

Palestinian women and children sit in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

Palestinian children play by a destroyed tank in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

Palestinians walk by destroyed tents in Khirbet Humsu in Jordan Valley in the West Bank, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said an "enforcement activity" was carried out against seven tents and eight pens that were "illegally constructed" in a firing range. (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

Israeli police and Palestinian youths clashed again at a major Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims on Friday despite a temporary halt to Jewish visits to the site, which are seen as a provocation by the Palestinians.

Palestinians and Israeli police have regularly clashed at the site for the last week at a time of heightened tensions in the region following a string of deadly attacks inside Israel and arrest raids in the occupied West Bank. Three rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Palestinian youths hurled stones toward police at a gate leading into the compound, according to two Palestinian witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns. The police, in full riot gear, then entered the compound, firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.

Israeli police clash with Palestinian protesters at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP PhotoMahmoud Illean)

The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said nine Palestinians were wounded, two of them seriously.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City is the third holiest site in Islam. The sprawling esplanade on which it is built is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of two Jewish temples in antiquity. It lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and clashes there have often ignited violence elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected at the site later in the day for the main weekly prayers.

Israeli police move behind riot shields during clashes with Palestinian protesters at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP PhotoMahmoud Illean)

Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, the custodian of the site, accuse Israel of violating longstanding arrangements by allowing increasingly large numbers of Jews to visit the site under police escort.

A longstanding prohibition on Jews praying at the site has eroded in recent years, fueling fears among Palestinians that Israel plans to take over the site or partition it.

Israel says it remains committed to the status quo and blames the violence on incitement by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza. It says its security forces are acting to thwart rock-throwers in order to ensure freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims.

Visits by Jewish groups were halted beginning Friday for the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as they have been in the past.

This year, the fasting month coincided with the Jewish Passover and major Christian holidays, with tens of thousands of people from all three faiths flocking to the Old City after the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions.