Meitar CP - a handcuffed Palestinian boy for cutting the fence
Route 317 At-Tuwani
We went to hear first-hand about the destruction of the school near Umm al-Kheir (we couldn’t get there by an ordinary car).
We were sitting in front of the house of Basel’s father Nasser, who recorded the event almost in real time on the website “Sicha Mekomit “. (Roughly the local conversation). Basel came and sat with us with a blank face. He has a lawyer’s certificate but doesn’t have a job, and says that in any case maybe he also prefers to be a journalist which is what he does. In the internal network between the villages, messages are passed and that’s how they came to know about the army’s organization for the demolition and evacuation operation.
The school has 23 children, and the eviction order was frozen until this week. But the army brought the matter to court and obtained a cancellation of the freeze. A large force arrived and at the head the bulldozer which belongs to a settler named Yinon who himself has built an illegal farm (a wild outpost) near Zanuta. Besides his sheep, he also has heavy mechanical equipment from which he makes a living, building settlements and breaking roads for the settlers. Now the violator of this law is called upon to destroy the little school.
The force evacuated the staff, the children locked themselves in the classrooms and some of them, when they heard the noise, broke the windows and left through them. Then, when the area was free of people, the army cleared all the equipment, confiscated it and the area was free for Yinon and the bulldozer.
Women’s Day was celebrated in At-Tuwani: the school was decorated and girls in shiny uniforms walked along the road with lollipops in their mouths…
At the exit of the village stands the deserted oil recycling factory whose construction was stopped due to the protest of the settlers. They planted a sign at the entrance to the village – “We want to breathe clean air.”
We went to Susiya to see what was going on there. Nasser, who works as an investigator for “B’tselem” greeted us standing up. He is also discouraged and angry about the so-called dialogue that the left has with Ben Gvir. The reference for his words is a Tiktok video that brought a clip from an old film in which MachsomWatch women talk to Ben Gvir, and try to understand his position towards the Palestinians. (Probably taken in 2016). In his opinion, the person should be boycotted.
On the way back, on Route 60 quite close to the Meitar barrier, on the side, in front of us is a car belonging to the separation fence’s policing unit, and next to it is a handcuffed Palestinian boy, when one soldier performs a physical examination on him, turns his pockets, takes off his shoes to see if he has any explosives in them. When we stopped to see (for obvious reasons there is no photo) the other soldier came to us and explained that a youth squad tried to cut through the fence and move to the Israeli side. The unit was called, arrested the young men, and in the end was taken for questioning.
The usual routine of the occupation.
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
Michal TsadikJul-25-2025The interior of the burnt house
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Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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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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