The settler Shem Tov who returned, constantly causing problems
Meitar Checkpoint, as usual, has been pretty deserted since the beginning of the war, October 23…. No entry permits, no work, no livelihood, there is increasing distress….
We went to Susiya, to Ahmad and Halima who told us what they had been through in recent days:
They said that at night, settlers on horses passed by them, one of them Shem Tov, against whom there had been an order, but he has returned. They approached the house, Ahmad photographed them and they continued on their way, without doing any damage, but it is enough to stress and scare them
There is a water well near the house, settlers who passed by wanted to open the well, it is not clear what they wanted to do, but they usually pollute the water.
The well was closed with a lock, so they were unable to open it and continued on their way.
Another day, a settler came with a motorcycle, drove around the house, made a lot of noise and scared the people and the children.
In the afternoon, a settler passed by with sheep, near the house. He saw the girl who was playing outside, told her to go away, or he would kill her…. and he made a sign on the neck….
Shem tov who has come back is constantly causing problems. They can’t go more than a few meters from the house. Soon, when it’s spring, they will have to go out with the sheep to pasture and there will definitely be a problem.
When the settlers arrive and if they are the scary and violent ones, Halima and the girls go in and lock themselves in the house. If hey are less scary, then they photograph them and the settlers continue on their way.
This is their daily life, there is no moment of peace and quiet!!!
We continued to visit Azzam. He also told us about the exploits of the settlers: They pass by them or near them with goats and sheep.
Azzam has the feeling that after a few arrests of settlers, there is some calm…. But there are still problems every day.
The day before the visit, near Samu’, settlers entered one of the houses, violently, and one person was injured. In this case the army and the police arrived.
In Susiya, settlers entered and asked where the sheep were? The children told them there were no sheep and they left…..
And so every day something happens.
Location Description
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 TsadikMay-20-2026The noisy machine that disturbs the IDF
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Susiya
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Susiya The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base. The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced. The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages. Updated April 2021, Anat T.
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