Khallet al-Humus – Settlers from a new outpost spray Palestinians with pepper spray and engage in wild violence.
We travelled to Susiya for two main reasons: to check on the wellbeing of N. Nawaj’ah, a B’Tselem activist who is also the head of the Palestinian Susiya village council, and of K., who had been arrested two days earlier and released after five hours.
In coordination with Azzam, we wanted to travel to Khalet al-Humus, to see and hear about what has been happening there over the past month.
N. was waiting for us and told us that when he went to see what was happening in Tuwani, a settler shouted at the soldiers and pointed at him: “Arrest him, he’s wanted for questioning about water theft, and treat him like a dog, without mercy — he’s like Ezra Nawi (may his memory be a blessing), he’s the one causing us all these problems.”
An armed settler arrested him and tied his eyes too tightly, and also cuffed his hands behind his back — hard and painful. After an hour, when his hands began to go numb, a soldier, “Fine, normal,” came and loosened the cuffs a bit.
On what basis did the settler say what he said to the soldier? According to N., a month earlier he himself had called the police because settlers had come to them claiming they were looking for water thieves — and now the settlers had flipped the story and tried to claim that they were the ones stealing water. He, of course, was detained for five unnecessary and humiliating hours, and afterward was returned to Tuwani — not before reminding them to give him back his wallet and phone that they had taken.
He tells this story with a kind of resignation now — this has long been the routine of their lives. The marks from the binding are still visible on his hands, and his fingers have trouble moving.
We travelled with A. to Khalet al-Humus, the area adjacent to came and said and Wadi Rahim, extending to the town of Yatta, where a few hundred people live. Until now they had suffered “only” from the settlers of the Luski family and their associates, who live in the settlement adjacent to ancient Susiya.
Starting on 1.6.26, Shem Tov Luski and additional settlers (Nachman, Eliav) established another outpost even closer to them, and they spray the Palestinians with pepper spray as well, rampaging against them with wild violence.
We met several men who spend many hours maintaining a Protective Presence (round-the-clock watch), and they gave me videos and told me about what’s happening. The settlers sealed off their water reservoirs, poured concrete over them, and diverted piping toward themselves with a pump. Now they are without water and have to buy water tankers.
Members of the Ashraf Nasser family returned home at night and found that the pump had been stolen and the reservoir had been broken into. They also found about 50 olive trees cut down and broken, fences cut, and the settlers’ cattle herds swarming over the trees, eating everything. On the land where the felled olive trees had stood, the settlers put up solar panels.
These events start at 11pm and continue until two in the morning. Even the teenagers help the settlers — beating people, throwing stones. Palestinians who try to defend themselves and fight back get sprayed with pepper spray. The settlers also come on off-road vehicles, making noise, blinding people, wounding the sheep, and trying to steal the guard dogs. The main form of the settlers’ abuse is a blanket prohibition on taking the flocks out to graze. They told me that out of fear the sheep will be taken from them, they move them to a safer place (for now). They also cut the electricity cables to people’s homes.
Yesterday the settlers climbed on graves, danced on them, urinated on them, and their sheep eat the plants and flowers that the shepherds grow near the graves.
There is a video showing the settlers bathing naked in a water pit belonging to the shepherds, turning it into a mikveh. The videos were sent to the DCO [District Coordination Office] and people are waiting for a response from there, if one ever comes.
Twice the police arrived to stop the settlers who were rampaging. Eliav, riding his horse, simply flees whenever he sees the police approaching.
Samir adds and recounts that when they complain about the settler Shem Tov Luski, the police officers answer him: “Leave him alone, he’s crazy, he’s garbage” — apparently the police are afraid to deal with him.
The responses of the police officers at the 100 hotline (an officer named Oren) to the shepherds’ complaints: “Your complaint is problematic. Forget it, he’s crazy. Go to the Kiryat Arba police station and file a complaint.”
Even when the police do arrive, the officers have to wait for the army to open the gate they set up for the Luski farm. And then they stall, cover for the soldiers, and buy time.
In the end, as expected, the police end up arresting the very Palestinians who had called them, humiliating them for a few hours and then releasing them with a scolding: “You’re bothering us, get out of here.”
On 4.7.26, S. received a restraining order from his own home, but then the “good” officer told him he could stay in his house as long as he was careful not to be seen.
Once, when one officer actually wanted to arrest Shem Tov Loszki, he suddenly got a phone call, after which he told the settlers Nachman and Eliav: “Come tomorrow at nine to the Kiryat Arba police station,” and left without arresting them.
The pile-up of incidents keeps growing, and along with it the anger, despair, and contempt they feel. The foolish cruelty and negligence of the authorities cry out to heaven.
We too are angry and deeply worried, because it’s clear to us as well where all of this is leading.
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
Muhammad D.Jul-23-2026The new settlement, starting June 1, 2026, opposite Khallet al-Humus.
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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
Muhammad D.Jul-23-2026The new settlement, starting June 1, 2026, opposite Khallet al-Humus.
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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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