Israel demolishes Palestinian village in West Bank again

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JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel on Wednesday demolished the Bedouin herding community of Khirbet Humsu in the occupied West Bank, the latest chapter in military attempts to uproot the Palestinian village of makeshift homes.

At least 65 people, including 35 children, have been displaced, said Christopher Holt of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a group of European Union-backed international aid agencies that helps residents.

The demolitions have left the villagers, who earn their living mainly by raising some 4,000 sheep, homeless for at least the fifth time in the past year. The EU in the past has helped residents rebuild after previous demolitions.

Holt, who was in the area, said the army arrived without warning at 9 a.m., asked residents to move out and, when they refused, began razing makeshift homes. “It’s a very serious escalation,” he said.

The Israeli government, now led by a coalition led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, claims the village was built illegally in the middle of a military firing range.

An Israeli security official said the government had held months of discussions with residents and offered an alternative site nearby. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the offer for the new location was valid.

Holt said residents had had no warning and had nowhere to go in the sweltering heat. Minutes after the last demolition in February, residents got to work fixing their fences in hopes of rounding up their sheep before dark.

Israel captured the West Bank in the Middle East War in 1967, and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state.

Perched in the rolling highlands above the Jordan Valley, Khirbet Humsu is part of the 60% of the West Bank known as Area C, which is under full Israeli control under the interim peace accords of the 1990s .

Palestinians in the region say it is almost impossible for them to get building permits from Israel.

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