A-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, Susiya
We left at 8.00 in the morning to meet with our friend Nasser Nawaj’a from Susiya. Nasser was kidnapped by the army and transferred to the GSS for investigation and it was important for us to visit him. He was taken around 23.00, handcuffed and blindfolded. At first, he was taken to a military base and later to Gush Etzion, where he was interrogated by a GSS captain.
In general, the allegations against him were that he is everywhere; he is contacted as soon as something happens throughout the West Bank and he also documents (the doubtfully moral actions of the army, the police and the settlers. Very inconvenient). Nasser explained to the investigator that this was his job as an employee of B’tselem and he is well known. He was asked not to harass the soldiers. (Is he harassing the soldiers? Well, really). When the interrogation was over (which was carried out without the handcuffs and not blindfolded), he was released. The investigator asked: “How will you get back home?” Nasser replied that he would ask to be picked up and so it was.
It started with an abduction, and ended with an investigation that was a kind of indirect warning.
After us, other activists came to Nasser to show him their support and appreciation.
We went to Azzam Wadha’s house in Susiya. We had not seen for a long time because Azzam worked in Israel. This time he was at home. He is not working now.
He tells about settlers taking over their lands. Last night, for example, 2 tractors were working on the land of another family from Susiya. He shows us additional areas that have already been cultivated and even planted. No one stops them despite reports. Flocks of sheep regularly enter their territories.
Azzam tells this and despair is evident on his face.
From there we went to Nasser Adra to hear about the settlers’ invasion of At-Tuwani on Tish’a Beab (the 9th of Ab). The settlers claim that there is a synagogue there. According to Nasser, there is no sign of any such thing.
The day started around 3.00 am with the entry of the army, which put up checkpoints at several entrances to At-Tuwani: near Abigail, near the mosque in the village and at the main entrance. Jewish and Palestinian activists sleep there at night. But in practice, no one sleeps.
Young people from At-Tuwani scattered tires and stones, in order to make it difficult for the settlers to arrive. But the army cleared everything with a bulldozer, before they arrived.
A little after five o’clock in the morning, three buses and private cars entered At-Tuwani.
About 20 army jeeps and a vehicle from the military police kept the area between the Nasser gas station and the mosque closed. Only the settlers were allowed to enter and move about.
Everything was recorded by some activists who slept on the roof of Nasser’s and his neighbour’s house. A number of settler children entered the area of Nasser’s house; the army took them away. It should be noted that two days earlier, the army arrived with settlers to plan this day. The residents of At-Tuwani, including the children, shouted Allahu Akbar, and did not keep silent. After an hour and a half of prayer, the settlers left the place.
From the three visits, the impression is the same: there is an occupation, settlers and the army work in partnership, life there is unbearable. We hardly took any pictures this time, because we listened more and there wasn’t really anything new to photograph.
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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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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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