Khirbet a-Duqaiqah - 80 demolition orders despite the Civil Administration's promise to approve a master plan for the village
We met with Nasser at the grocery store in Tuwani, as he had requested, and there we purchased food supplies to bring with us for the visit. I noticed a sticker on the store’s door, with the initials WFP on it. Nasser says that the organization provides shopping vouchers to residents of the area for about 50 NIS each voucher. With the vouchers, they can purchase food at the store.
From Wikipedia:
An international organization belonging to the United Nations. Established in 1961 as a supplier of food and meals to regions around the world. More than 152 million people have received assistance from the organization in more than 120 territories. In 2020, they even won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Khirbet a-Duqaiqah is a village of about 72 families, Bedouin, some of whom were expelled in 1948, from the Tel Arad area and some who came even before. The village is reached through Umm al-Khair, and continues several kilometers into the desert landscape, close to the border with Israel. The villagers belong to the Ka’abna tribe. Most of them make a living from agriculture, which includes raising sheep, camels, field crops, and olive groves.
The army comes from time to time, makes rounds in vehicles, and scares the children.
I ask about unusual events that have occurred in the village, and they say that six months ago, the Green Patrol of the Nature Reserves Authority arrived, stopped a shepherd who was with his flock near the village. The flock scattered, and as a result, 13 sheep died.
In another case, settlers arrived, stole 5 sheep, scaring the flock and the children who were nearby.
A protective presence rarely comes to them, during grazing.
As in all villages, the army and settlers limit them to the areas allowed for grazing the flocks, and the flocks are fed with food purchased in bags.
Muhammad Al-Gharb, the head of the village, is 100 percent disabled as a result muscular dystrophy, with family and friends constantly around him, 24 hours a day, to help him. The car he drives, a Subaru, is decades old, and can be seen in the photo. He is asking for help to purchase a more comfortable vehicle for him, and his heart is broken.
Muhammad Al-Gharb talks about the Civil Administration’s promise to approve a master plan for the village several years ago. In the meantime, about 80 percent of the village’s houses have received demolition orders. They are rejected every month with various excuses, such as, for example, proof of ownership of their houses. They have already gone through this process several times, but it is not surprising, and familiar.
In our conversation, they mention that Neta Amar is the lawyer representing the village in the legal courts. I contacted her, and she confirmed that this is the case and that they are supposed to give them an answer by the end of December regarding the approval of the master plan. If they do not approve it, she will file a petition with the court.
We move to the building where the council is located and leave bags of the donations we brought and the food supplies there.
On the way back, Nasser tells us that they have a dream, to establish a courtyard where peace-loving people can meet, sitting on wooden benches and chairs, surrounded by a small garden and trees.
People who want to live in peace.
I wish they could make their dream come true.
#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
Smadar BeckerDec-14-2025A World Food Program (WFP) sticker at the entrance to a grocery store in Tuwani
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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
Smadar BeckerDec-14-2025A World Food Program (WFP) sticker at the entrance to a grocery store in Tuwani
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Umm al-Kheir
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Umm al-Kheir
A Palestinian village in the southern Hebron governorate, populated by five families. The Palestinian residents settled there decades ago, after Israel expelled them from the Arad desert and purchased the land from the residents of the Palestinian village of Yatta. The village suffers from the violence of nearby Carmel settlers, from water shortage and is subject to frequent demolition of buildings by the Civil Administration.
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