Press Release For More Information, Call: Land and Water For Release 8:00 p.m. Establishment January 17, 1995 Tel: (972) (02) 812364/824559 Fax: (972) (02) 811072 Palestinian Landowners Evicted without Notice by Israeli Military Authorities Today at 11:00 a.m., officers from the Israeli military served immediate eviction notices to 30 families living near the Israeli settlement of Sussia . These areas, near the Palestinian village of Yatta, are called Al Fakhite, Al Majaz and Al Tiban. By 3:00 p.m., the first seven families had been moved from their homes. They, with their belongings, were left on the settlers' road that connects the Sussia settlement with Ma'on settlement. After sunset, the army moved in again to remove the remaining families. Many of these people have nowhere to go, and have been moved to the road. The Israeli military has announced that these lands will be used for military purposes. The residents of Yatta village maintain that they neither received nor were aware of any notice of eviction. The residents have lived on this land since the last century. Land and Water Establishment deplores this kind of summary and unwarrented confiscation and eviction of Palestinian residents from their homes. The explanation given for the eviction, that the military is planning a military training ground in the immediate surroundings of an Israeli settlement, is dubious at best. The fact that the Palestinian residents were given no notice and were left on the side of a settlers' road gives this case added urgency. Land and Water Establishment demands an immediate end to this kind of aggressive military activity, and calls on the international community to voice their opposition to the serious human rights abuses still taking place in the Occupied Territories. ** The Land and Water Establishment is a Palestinian human rights advocacy organization.