Mufaqara – settlers harass Palestinians
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Masafer Yatta
To get to Mufaqara we came with a 4×4 vehicle. First we went to At-Tuwani.
Nasser Adara tells about the events of the last few days. On Sunday night, the Ma’on farm people cut down 15 of their large 10-year-old olive trees from a section at the foot of the settler farm.
The day before, settlers came and threw stones at people who were working in the field. Stones were also thrown into the water hole and they tried to destroy the stone fence they are constantly building to mark their plots.
Nasser praises, this time, the police and the army who came and removed the settlers. The Palestinians have transferred the matter to a lawyer.
He tells us that after the demonstration that he held together with his sons and his friends, amongst them Jewish volunteers, against the barrier that the army built in Jimba in an attempt to limit the movement of the Palestinians and make it even more difficult them to travel between the settlements, the security forces gave in to the pressure and opened the way and now life is easier.
We saw near his house a car belonging to an organization that treats children with Down syndrome.
To our question, he explains that he got the car on loan for 4 months after the organization had bought a new one and he drives the children with it from their homes to the school at At-Tuwani and back home.
He hopes that he will receive donations to buy the car which will make it easier easier for the children who now walk miles every day. Today the children were happy about the transportation but also about returning home earlier.
It turns out that there is a strike. Again, the teachers did not receive a salary from the Palestinian Authority.
We went to Mufaqara to Fadal. It was cold, rainy and hail also falling. On such a day you enter the cave near the fire. Fadel says that he can’t graze his flock at all because from the moment he goes too far settlers come down from Havat Ma’on and chase him away.
This is state land, they say, not yours. He didn’t go out today because of the rain, but on other days they prevent him from going anyway.
According to him, during the time when he was trying to plough and sow, he was also prevented from doing so…it’s always by the people of Havat Ma’on who, despite the police and the army, feel free to bully, abuse and make life bitter.
It is a nightmare and not a life because of the settlers in the south of Mount Hebron Hills.
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.Jun-9-2026The car that the army stuck on the bypass driveway, took the keys and the owner sits next to it for hours
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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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