Daily incursion of a herd from the Amichai Shilo farm into the Sha'ab al-Butum areas
The second day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday after the Ramadan fast.
The roads indicate that people are staying home or visiting family members. There are almost no vehicles.
At the Meitar checkpoint, the parking lot is almost empty.
We drive on Route 60 to view the main checkpoints.
Samu’ – open without soldier supervision, we were surprised. Despite this, only one vehicle passed there.
Dahariya – no change. The checkpoint is closed. Vehicles are waiting on both sides of the checkpoint, what is called a back-to-back.
Karma – open.
Abda – both checkpoints are closed.
Qilqis– closed on both sides of the road.
Sheep Junction – towards Hebron is open under the supervision of a few soldiers. Towards Yatta it is closed.
Dura – open. Two armed soldiers got out of the pillbox and showed their presence.
In a conversation with a gas station attendant at the al-Fawwar gas station, we asked a few questions about the soldiers’ routine. He says that the Dura checkpoint is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sometimes there is a change. The soldiers stop pedestrians, interrogate and search them.
Zif Junction – open under the supervision of 5 soldiers who stop every vehicle entering and exiting and also carefully check the trunk.
We stop at Nabil’s grocery store at the Zif Junction to purchase basic necessities for the Jabarin family, whom we will visit.
One of the shoppers, a resident of Yatta, who speaks fluent Hebrew, tells us about his life since the war. Like most of them, he does not work and to survive he sells jewellery and objects. The army stops, checks and we have no life, he adds. He thanked us when we explained who we are.
Later on
Dirat – no checkpoint, but 5 armed soldiers stand at the entrance.
Carmel – opposite a-Tuwani 5 soldiers supervise entry and exit.
There is increased visibility of armed soldiers, wearing helmets at intersections so that they don’t forget that there is an occupation there.
On the road to Sha’ab al-Butum, families cultivate small areas to plant fakus and zucchini, and plow the land with a donkey, in the olive groves around the trees.
Leila and Muhammad Jabarin welcome us happily as usual. With them are their 4 sons and a daughter. Belkis, their daughter-in-law, is at the Yatta hospital with the twins, who are about a month and a half old, to receive medical treatment for one of them. They hope to return home soon.
They talk about the routine of the herd invading the outpost – Amichai Shilo’s farm – every day. A shepherd boy, holding a knife, threatens and curses. Most of the times when Muhammad calls the police, there is no answer. Today, I called Qamar, a lawyer who faithfully accompanies our friends in the southern Hebron Hills, and asked her to call the police. After a while, police arrived and asked the shepherd not to invade again. So, they did.
This is a time when all the families who have a herd prepare various dairy products. Leila made yogurt and a yogurt stone that is not yet ready to eat. It is interesting to watch the preparation. Near the entrance to their house are about 10 olive tree seedlings that Muhammad says he will not plant for the time being. The reason is clear: fear of being uprooted by the settlers in the area. The small area they sowed barley on, after it grew, was also eaten by the invader herd.
We met with them at their place two activists from the US who are sleeping there and their stay is so important.
It was reported that the Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, visited Masafer Yatta after the pogrom in the village of Jinba. A number of soldiers who rebelled were given punishments.
I personally have no expectations that anything will change there. Jewish terrorism under the auspices of the military and government policy is raising its head more and more.
#ThisIsTheOccupation
Location Description
A-Tuwani
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A-Tuwani
The locals came to a-Tuwani during the 20th century from the village of Yatta. They settled in abandoned ruins, utilizing the arable land, pastures for grazing sheep and the abundance of natural caves for habitation. The residents who settled in the caves came from families who could not purchase land for houses in the mother villages, as well as shepherds who did not have enough land to graze. They were joined by clan members who quarreled with other families in the mother locality.
Some of the residents today live in concrete buildings built above the caves. In the area of the village are several water cisterns and an ancient water well called 'Ein a-Tuwani. Local residents are forced to buy water in containers and transport them through many road blocks to the village. With the help of international organizations, an electrical system was installed in the village. In the late 90s of the 20tTh century, an elementary school was established in the serving several small villages in the area.
In 2004, MachsomWatch began visiting and reporting from the Khirbet Tuwani cave village, which suffers badly from the settlers of nearby outposts, and especially from the extremist Ma'on outpost. . The settlers contaminate cisterns, poison the flocks and uproot trees.Particularly notable is the harassment of children from the surrounding villages on their way to school in a-Tuwani, so much so that military escort of children is required to separate them from the attackers (this was arranged following an initiative of the organization's members). In the past year, the escort has been without the vital presence of overseas volunteers.
Near a-Tuwani there are several families who have returned to the caves due to the incessant demolitions of the civil administration (as there is a total construction ban in all of area C). Destroyed are not only residential and agricultural buildings, but also water pipes, machinery. Even water cisterns are clogged up. a-Tuwani residents have created an association for non-violent demolition protests, but in the past year the army’s harsh harassment and settler violence have intensified and escalated. The incident of the small generator confiscation, which left a young man paralyzed, is one of many examples - any legitimate protection of property rights leads to violence and even shootings by the army and the civil administration.
Updated April 2022
Michal TsadikJul-25-2025The interior of the burnt house
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Hakvasim (sheep) Junction
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One of the roadblocks (earthworks, rocks, concrete blocks or iron gates) that prevent transit of vehicles to Route 60 in the southern West Bank and block the southern entrance to Hebron. A manned pillbox supervises the place.
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Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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Mesafer Yatta
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This is happening in Fire Area 918 in the South Hebron Hills
On the eve of Remembrance Day (the day before Israel Independence Day), 4th May, 2022, the Israeli High Court decided on the transfer and expulsion of residents from 8 Palestinian communities in the area of Masafar Yata in the South Hebron Hills. Residents of the villages have been living under the threat of demolition, evacuation and expropriation since the IDF issued evacuation orders in 1999 based on the 1980s proclamation of their area of residence as a firing zone for IDF drills. None of the nearby settlements were included in this zone. The Masafer Yata Palestinian villages retain a special lifestyle and ancient agricultural culture. They also posess a clear historical documentation that testifies to a Palestinian settlement in this area, generations before the establishment of Israel, long ago in the caves and at later times outside them.
Evacuating residents from the area means destroying these historic villages and leaving entire families (about 2,000 people, children, adults, and the elderly) homeless. This is contrary to international law.
In June 2022, a firing drill started, and life became harder.
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Sha'ab al-Butum
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This is one of the small Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta in the southern Hebron Hills, near the settlement of Mitzpe Avigail.
Since the outbreak of the October 7, 2023 war, settler violence against residents has escalated greatly, as in the entire Palestinian community. This violent conduct receives full backing from the state and full cooperation from the IDF. The goal is to make the lives of the Palestinian residents miserable and make them abandon and leave.
The population consists of mostly shepherds who peacefully seek to cultivate the land and graze their sheep, whom the settlers treat as a dangerous enemy. They prohibit them from any movement related to herding sheep and cultivating the land and harm everything: trampling crops, breaking olive trees, smuggling herds, scaring shepherds, conducting wild searches of houses, shouting, cursing and threatening - at all hours of the day. "We are Besieged, but will not move from our land," says Lila G. New settlements are springing up around them. At first it's a bus or a truck that turns into residential buildings, on top of which every week more residential buildings and animal sheds are added. With the open encouragement of the current government, Jewish terrorism is raising its head, with authority and permission. The settlers have received army uniforms and weapons, and no one is stopping them. The police, who are supposed to protect the Palestinians from the settlers' riots, sometimes respond to calls for help, but in practice they don't do much more than provide them with a report, and they are required to go and file a complaint in Kiryat Arba Settlemnt police station . Though the settlers' identities are known, they are !never arrested.
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South Hebron Hills
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South Hebron Hills
South Hebron Hills is a large area in the West Bank's southern part.
Yatta is a major city in this area: right in the border zone between the fertile region of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants.
The surrounding villages are called Masafer Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.Since the beginning of the 1980s, many settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with withholding water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.
There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Roadblocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.
Updated April 2022
Michal TsadikJul-25-2025The interior of the burnt house
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Zif Junction
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Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
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