Demolition orders in Umm al-Khair in retaliation for High Court decision to delay construction of caravans for Carmel settlers
Route 317
Israeli flags line the road along its entire length.
All entrances to Samuʿ, north of the road, are closed. There are many informal entrances that residents have opened.
Umm al-Khair:
We arrived in Umm al-Khair to understand the nature of the event involving demolition orders for 14 structures, some dating back to 1948—almost the entire village.
We encountered many visitors in the village: two international activists, an Italian and an Irishman staying in a-Tuwani; Eyal Shani with two companions; and also a representative from the office of attorney Michael Sfard.
We spoke and received explanations from Eid, Aziz, Khalil, and Tarek. Everyone was agitated.
Sequence of events:
About three weeks ago, in a single night, the following occurred:
- Security forces confined all village residents to their homes, including the international volunteers who regularly stay in the village.
- Settlers and their aides placed caravans adjacent to the village, on the other side of the Carmel settlement. Now the settlement, the caravans, and the chicken coops encircle the village from three sides. The caravans were placed on land where development works had been carried out in the past month (where the excavator of the murderer Yinon Levi had been operating).
- A dirt road was paved from the caravans to the yellow side gate of the settlement.
- Access to the dirt road was blocked with coils of barbed wire, forming a fence around the village.
- Young olive saplings that had been planted around the village were uprooted.
After that night, the office of attorney Michael Sfard found that:
- The caravans were built on state-designated agricultural land; therefore, construction there is prohibited.
- The dirt road was paved on privately owned Palestinian land.
Following a petition to the High Court of Justice, a construction freeze order was issued for the caravan expansion area. The order was welcomed as a breath of fresh air and a source of hope in the village and among all friends and supporters.
However, it turns out this was a Pyrrhic victory. A few days ago, draconian demolition orders were issued for most (perhaps all) of the structures in the village, including caravans that had been placed where homes were previously demolished. It is clear that this is retaliation for the brief success in the struggle against the settlement. Efforts are now underway to delay or cancel the orders.
In conversations with residents, a proposal was raised to try to create a channel of dialogue with sane voices in Carmel and the surrounding settlements. In the current situation, where all law-enforcement authorities have “fallen” into the hands of extremist settlers, the power is with them. The chances of winning a struggle against the extremist settlers are slim to nonexistent. A channel of dialogue must be created, and endurance maintained until sane forces emerge. Otherwise, they will end up like Zanuta.
A moment of calm:
I went to visit Dalal, Khalil’s wife, with whom (and with Ikhlas) we worked years ago—about ten years ago—when there was still an active kindergarten in Umm al-Khair. I met Dalal with her four children: Mira, Manar, Rawan, and Muhammad, who is still nursing. What a small piece of paradise around their tiny home.
Meitar crossing on the way back:
Unexpectedly, we were delayed, like the other vehicles of Arabs. They questioned the nature of our relationship, asked for identification (only from Muhammad), we got out of the car and passed through a security detector with our belongings; the vehicle was searched, including by dogs. All those checked were Arabs. Jews passed freely. To the point of absurdity, we were told innocently that this was a random check.
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.Jan-20-2026New settlement - Merom Yehuda
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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
Muhammad D.Jan-20-2026New settlement - Merom Yehuda
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Zanuta
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Zanuta was a small rural Palestinian locality until its demolition. It was situated in the space around the town Dahariya in the South Hebron Hills, about a ten-minute ride from Meitar Checkpoint. There are documented remains of a large Byzantine settlement in the area. Since the Ottoman (Turkish Empire) period (1516-1917) Zanuta was documented as a locality of shepherds and farmers who live in the remains of the ancient structures and the residential caves near them.
Two individual ranches of colonists were created next to Zanuta: Meitarim (of the colonist Yinon Levi) to the east, and Yehudah (of the colonist Elyashiv Nachum) to the north. Endless attacks, harassments and attempt to chase away the Zanuta villagers have originated in these two outposts.
Until the expulsion, four families lived in the village: A-Samama, Al-Tel, Al Batat, and Al-Qaisia. Farming constituted their main economic activity and employed most of the villagers. The total area of the village is about 12,000 dunams, of which about 3,000 are tended, mostly with field crops.
This village has never had a master plan that would legitimize construction permits. The Civil Administration claimed it was too small and the distance to the next town, Dahariya, too great. For this reason, the Israeli authorities pressured the villagers to leave. The colonists did the job for them.
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