Khalet a-Daba' - Almost total destruction
We are on our way to Masafer Yatta but travelled via Route 60 to meet N. at the entrance to Dura, where the checkpoint, which had been closed for a long time, is open, making the meeting easier for us. I was asked by my friend, as I had done several times before, to transfer money to him to enable him and his family to survive. After working for many years in Israel he is now, as most Palestinians, without a job. We could not exchange more than a few sentences. We transferred the money, along with a bag of food I had packed at home and some clothes.
An unpleasant feeling that we were being watched from the nearby pillbox.
We continued to A-Tuwani, where we purchased basic food items, and from there to Khalet a-Daba’.
Jaber Dababsa was already waiting for us. We were sitting with Jaber, in a well-kept and tidy cave that had been turned into a shig (guest room).
A little background on the situation in the village:
The village has been on the verge of demolition for years and several times, settlers from several outposts in the area have entered, destroyed, burned, and stolen equipment (such as mattresses, carpets). They often enter with their flocks of sheep, which have destroyed the residents’ olive groves.
As we approach Khalet a-Daba’, after months of not being there, the almost total destruction was immediately apparent and heartbreaking. Jaber is waiting for us in the lower part of the village, where he has lived with his family ever since.
Here too, the majority is destruction and devastation. Jaber says that in September, about 40 settlers arrived, around 11:00 p.m., when most of the residents were sleeping outside because they had no homes due to a pogrom carried out in May. A small number of them lived in caves. Try to imagine what happened there, and, as mentioned before, there are also people close to 90 years old, and children.
As a result, some of them temporarily moved to Yatta to receive treatment and to have a roof over their heads. There are no sheep there, so the sheep were transferred to a family nearby. Jaber buys the food and delivers it to them.
The school in the village, which was not destroyed, accepts children up to the fourth grade, and after that, classes are held at the school in nearby A-Tuwani.
In the village above, there are 9 families, and below, including Jaber’s, 5 families. His two older children have returned from school, and are helping to transport the clothes we brought and food supplies. Before we left, we looked around, outposts are springing up around the destroyed village.
We drove with a feeling of sadness and pain.
#ThisIsTheOccupatio
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 TsadikFeb-17-2026Umm al-Khair: The soccer field for Palestinian children is surrounded by new trailers and lots of Israeli flags
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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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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 TsadikFeb-17-2026Umm al-Khair: The soccer field for Palestinian children is surrounded by new trailers and lots of Israeli flags
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