15 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
The Israeli military invaded al Aqaba village east of Tubas at 6am this morning and demolished a home and main road.
The operation consisted of two bulldozers and ten military vehicles. The Israeli army set up a closed military zone stopping all access to the village. No Palestinians or internationals were allowed within the closed military zone leading to the location of demolition, including the governor of Tubas. This is illegal as all governors of villages hold a permit to enter all military zones within the West Bank.
The closed military zone was re opened at 10:30am. All Palestinians, press and internationals were then allowed through to witness the damage. The damage consisted of 1 destroyed kilometre of the As Salam street leading from Al Aqaba to the Tayasir checkpoint. This road was newly reconstructed by the PA four months ago. The house of Khaled Abd-Al Rahman Subaih was also demolished, and the main electricity cable was cut.
This house was the home of 12 people.
These demolitions went ahead with no prior warning or demolition order. The family was given a short amount of time to take their possessions out of the house before it was to be destroyed. The barrack which held the sheep was also demolished. This is the second time this has been demolished in the last 5 months. Two smaller barracks were also demolished. They were the property of Khaled Abd-Al Rahman Subaih’s brother, Abderrahim Subaih. Within the barracks was a small room which housed the family. 300 meters of the road leading to the familys’ houses and barracks were also destroyed by bulldozers. All of these demolitions were in Area C, which consists of one checkpoint and three military training grounds.