In a joint statement following the monthly session of the UN Security Council (UNSC), the European members of the UNSC: Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway and the UK, expressed their concern at the demolition and confiscations of items conducted by Israeli authorities in the donor-funded structures at Humsa Al-Baqaia in the Jordan Valley, where a large Bedouin community resides. The EU members of the UNSC also voiced the same concerns of the EU. In addition, the parties demanded a full, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access from Israel.
On 26 February, Tor Wennesland, the UN Envoy to the region, also expressed the concerns of the UN on the developments in the area, while also urging Israel to cease its operations in the area against Palestinian property throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Wennesland reminded that similar operations by Israel took place in November 2020, which demolished or confiscated up to 80 buildings and displaced 63 people, including 36 children.
According to the UN, approximately 60,000 Palestinians live in the Jordan Valley with nearly 90 percent of the land being part of what is known as Area C. The valley also includes closed military areas and about 50 agricultural settlements housing around 12,000 Israelis. Within Area C, the Palestinian populations are forbidden from well digging or building any kind of infrastructure without first asking approval through a permit. Anything which is built without a permit is at immediate risk of demolition or confiscation by the Israeli military.
