West Bank20 September, 20262 min read
Israeli Occupation Army Encircles Kherbet Al-Ras Al-Ahmar, Isolating 47 Palestinian Families
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Israeli army seals last access road, isolating 47 families in Khirbet Ras al-Ahmar. Village under siege for days with water shortages threatening remaining residents.
Seven days of encirclement
The Israeli occupation army continues to encircle Kherbet al-Ras al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley for a seventh day, while foreign activists attempt to deliver Palestinian residents’ needs. Abdullah Basharat, head of the Atoof and Ras al-Ahmar Village Council, said foreign activists arrived in the region yesterday, Sunday, and met with residents there, providing “simple assistance” consisting of food supplies and water. Abdullah Basharat said occupation forces isolate the area by closing its outlets and digging a trench that prevents movement of people and vehicles in and out of the area.
Thaer Basharat said the Israeli army closed the last outlet leading to Khirbet al-Ra’s al-Ahmar southeast of Tubas and north of the occupied West Bank, completely isolating 47 Palestinian families for the fifth consecutive day. Thaer Basharat said the siege began to tighten about three years ago and reached a dangerous stage five days ago when the Israeli army dug a trench at the last remaining outlet to the ruin.
Water, roads, and detention
Local sources told Al Jazeera Net that residents of Ras al-Ahmar endure harsh suffering after the occupation cut off the only outlet to them, which has led to the isolation of 47 families and thousands of head of livestock. Abdullah Basharat said occupation forces continue their measures to isolate the area by closing its outlets and digging a trench that prevents movement of people and vehicles, in and out of the area and to it. Citizen Said Beni Awwa told WaPo (Safa) that “We have 47 families suffering for more than two months, and every day there is a new order; from bulldozing roads and cutting water networks”.
Abdullah Bisharat, head of the Atouf and al-Ras al-Ahmar village council, said occupation forces detained three residents in al-Ras al-Ahmar on Saturday while they were grazing their livestock. Abdullah Bisharat said occupation forces deliberately cut water lines whenever residents extended them, to prevent farming, and fully confiscated water pumps.
Land seized, displacement feared
Al-Jazeera Net said the ongoing isolation of the area worsens the hardships faced by its residents and affects their ability to move and reach their basic needs, especially since they are farmers and livestock breeders. Thaer Basharat said about 360,000 dunams (one dunam equals 1,000 square meters) had constituted pastures for livestock breeders, but 90% of them have been seized or access restricted. Abdullah Bisharat said occupation forces destroyed six artesian wells in the past month and said there is no longer any functioning underground well in Atouf, while water reaches residents only from the town of Tomhum.
Abdullah Bisharat said residents can barely manage their daily affairs under the difficult conditions they have faced for more than a month. Abdullah Bisharat said “We have about 27,000 dunams of land that should be sown now with potatoes, onions, and other crops” but the lands have been seized, dried up, and deprived of water.