Khursa - The Diwan is deserted
As I reported in the previous week’s shift: I received a disturbing phone call from Tawfiq of Khursa who told about the worsening of the behaviour of the soldiers who come down from the pillbox which was stuck seven years ago in the centre of the village above their diwan (a meeting place).
So, I kept my promise to get to them so as to see and to hear happening.
As we have done in the past, we bought basic necessities for the Jadallah family who are stuck in the middle of a ravine at the foot of the settlements Negohot A and Negohot B and near a Negohot farm that was established there in recent years by a man named Hagai Nissim. From this farm he now takes his cows to the yard of their house and they leave their manure. In the previous years there have also been problems with Hagai Nisim and his people.
I am attaching to the report detailed reports* ** that I sent in 2021 with a detailed explanation of the farm, its people and their behaviour. mention again that since 7/10, everyone’s condition has worsened and this family is besieged because of roadblocks on the way to the two villages and we have not been able to reach them. With the exception of one time when I was able to get permission from the sector commander in the military headquarters. So now we brought the supplies to Khursa and someone from the Jadallah family will come to take it through Dura, etc.
As mentioned, we came to Khursa and were told as to the recent events. First of all, the divan is behind the barrier and the barbed wire, since the pillbox is adjacent to it. Tawfiq says that until 7/10 it could be used for the needs of the village (weddings and other reasons for gathering) according to coordination with the military police. But for the past 9 months no one has answered his calls to the civil administration.
And the diwan stands broken and desolate. Dogs come in, dust and dirt everywhere. Soldiers enter at will, sit at their ease and conduct their affairs, without permission of course. It has already happened that they took chairs and put them in a pillbox and Tawfiq was able to enter the pillbox and get them back. He tells us again about a positive relationship he had until 7/10 with the military police, with one female soldier who agreed to their requests to use the diwan. Now he is trying to ask the officers in the pillbox to close the divan so that dogs don’t come in. They told him they would take care of the matter, but nothing has changed. The routine in the 7 years since 2017, when the pillbox was built, there have been daily patrols and inspections at the checkpoint at irregular and unpredictable hours. “We got used to it, you know. But last week a new unit arrived that I couldn’t figure out which unit they were from, because they were wearing helmets, and they aggressively entered the row of shops along the road and the intersection and attacked a shop owner who refused to return to the shop as he walked down the road. An argument began and then he was beaten so that he was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment. “That’s why I called you then,” says Tawfiq. “Since then, they have returned to the normal search routine. Perhaps it was a private initiative of the new commander,” speculates Tawfiq. So now several times a day 4, 5 soldiers get off the pillbox and make a round of the houses and shops.
“Understand, “he says, “people here hated Hamas. But after what is happening in Gaza now, they are angry and hate Israel more. Hamas was surprised that there was no real opposition from the IDF,” he adds.
We agreed that we would be in touch so as to be updated on what is happening in the village whose only sin is that it is on road hich leads to the settlements.
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* https://www.machsomwatch.org/he/reports/checkpoints/26102021/morning/71169
** https://www.machsomwatch.org/he/reports/checkpoints/11082022/morning/72986
Location Description
Dura Al-Fawwar Junction
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Junction on Route 60: west - the town of El Dura, east - the Al Fawwar refugee camp. There is a manned pillbox at the junction. From time to time the army sets up flying checkpoints at the entrance to El Fawwar and Al Dura. Al-Fawwar is a large refugee camp (7,000 inhabitants in 2007) established in 1949 to accommodate Palestinian refugees from Be'er Sheva and Beit Jubrin and environs. There are many incidents of stone-throwing. In the vicinity of the pillbox there are excellent agricultural areas, Farmers set up stalls adjacent to the plots close to the road. In recent months the civil administration has set up dirt embankments thereby blocking access to the stalls, and making it impossible for the farmers to sell their vegetables. Updated April 2021, Michal T.
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Khursa / Al Marajem
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Khursa / Al Marajam
Khursa is a small village of about 2,500 inhabitants in Area A, on a hill on the way to Negohot settlement. At the end of September 2017, a pillbox watchtower was set up in the heart of the village, adjacent to the village's diwan, which is a sort of community center for celebrations such as weddings, or used as mourning tent. The army declared the place a closed military zone. In 2018, we saw another aggravation: a barrier of about 50 m, which divides the road into two, and a prohibition on passing vehicles, and then also a prohibition on pedestrians, who have to walk around on a dirt road - during winter on a mud road. Since the checkpoint was established, the army has required special permits to hold an event in Diwan and the permits must be requested at least two days in advance. Of course, the dying are not always cooperative ...together with the villagers we wondered what the meaning of this strange barrier in Area A, which is supposed to be under full control of the Palestinian Authority. Conclusion: It seems that in order to secure the way to the Negohot, the residents are forced to live with a closed military zone and a watchtower in the village center, and suffer many restrictions. (From Watch Checkpoint reports).
Recently, the Israeli authorities began, in the middle of the night, to pave a new bypass road from the nearby village Fuqeiqis to Negohot, Trying to establish facts and aiming to enlarge the settlement.
Updated in April 2021 by Anat T.
A Palestinian residentMay-12-2025A sheep carcass dumped by settler Shimon Atiya from the Shorashim farm near the school in Umm Qusa.
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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
A Palestinian residentMay-12-2025A sheep carcass dumped by settler Shimon Atiya from the Shorashim farm near the school in Umm Qusa.
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