Khalet Ad-Daba’ - the settler Amichai Shilo invades with his herds
We went to At-Tuwani find out how our friend is, to take the boxes of groceries that had been donated by the Rabbinnical Voice for Human Rights, that we had stored there and bring them to Khalet Ad-Daba’.
Nasser says that 3 days ago settlers wearing uniforms came to the abandoned hill which had been Abu Hani’s house to dismantle and take what he left.
The volunteers came to photograph them and then the settlers threw stones at them. The police were called, and the army also arrived. This time the settlers ran away but the police said that the area was forbidden to enter, it had become a closed military area. This is the way things are done.
He further adds and says that there are daily incidents with Havat Ma’on settlers. They simply go with their flocks into the fields of the At-Tuwani people and the sheep eat everything that grows there. The police who arrive chase them off, but the problem is not actually solved.
Bassel says that he is travelling together with Yuval Avraham tomorrow to the Berlin Film Festival which will open on February 15 with the film they both made, No Other Land. We were of course happy and wished them success.
(At the time of writing the report, the echoes of what is happening at the festival have already reached us).
We continued to Khalet Ad-Daba’ with the food packages. We met the talented painter there who decorated the houses there with interesting inscriptions and paintings as we had already photographed, but I could not resist and took another picture of the house with the inscription in Arabic, the translation of which is: Do not take the branch of the olive tree from my hand and next to it an inscription in Celtic which means in English: Our day will come. This is how the volunteer from ISM, the Irish painter, explains to me. He also explains where his support for the Palestinians comes from, whose struggle reminds him of the struggle of the Irish against the English.
Jaber also says that two days before settlers came with dogs and chased the shepherds from his family. He called the Palestinian DCO who promised to inform the Israeli DCO and the army. None of them came to their aid. Fortunately, the settlers left after half an hour and allowed them to continue grazing. On the day we arrived, we saw on the ridge an ATV with settlers speeding to Mufaqara.
So, first phoned to see what was happening and went there to see the settlers coming with their herds to their plots and shouting and cursing “Let’s see if you are men and can evict us, this is our land not yours”.
The settler is Amichai Shilo who settled on the hill in front of them and returns and invades with his herds shouting and threatening. We received the attached video; we could only photograph from a distance as the photos will show.
This is the increasingly strict occupation routine since 7.10.23
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.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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Mesafer Yatta
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Masafer Yatta
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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.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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