Mufaqara- the settlers climb with their herds on the olive trees, trample, break and eat them
We went to Mufaqara. On the way, at the intersection of Route 60 and Route 317, soldiers, men and one woman, monitor the intersectio). We arrived at Fadel Hamamda. His wives, sons and their wives and children are in constant distress because of the insolence of new settlers who surround him from all sides.
We bought basic necessities. For almost a year, the people are neither able to go to work in Israel, nor are they allowed to graze their herds on their lands. The settlers also climb with their herds on the olive seedlings, trample, break and eat them and everything that sprouts which is mainly intended for food for the sheep. Fadel is desperate and angry as we have never seen him before. Tired of the confrontations with the thugs of the settlers who build huts and caravans around him and “suffocate” his family, according to him.
I photographed the new settlers across from the entrance to the settlement Avigayil on the hill above the A-Rakiz people who live mainly in caves. The settlers arrived a month ago and are building another residential building.
“I don’t have money to buy feed for the sheep, it’s impossible to take them out to pasture. I’ve already sold 50 of the 80 sheep he had because of this situation,” says Fadel.
The boys show videos of their confrontations with three settlers. The settlers came and went up with their sheep on their territory. He adds: “A week ago, a settler came with his sheep and stepped on the plot of young olive trees. The army stands by and does nothing, except comply with the demands of the settlers to stop them. This time they just threatened and left.”
Fadel says and asks for volunteers to come sleep with him and is angry that there is no fair distribution of the volunteers among everyone. When I asked what Nasser and Bassel, who are active on the issue, answered him, he said that they only care about themselves in Susiya and A-Tuwani.
He says that his hearing is deteriorating and he needs hearing aids.
He has no money and asks us to help with the matter. I listened; I didn’t promise of course. I referred to the Villages Group that are connected to the Doctors for Human Rights and they helped him a lot when he had a granddaughter who needed special treatments and devices because of severe problems with her respiratory system. I don’t think we can raise such amounts. He also had complaints about Adv. Kamar Meisharki and Adv. Neta Amar who promise to come to him and never do. I explained to him that I met them very busy in Zanuta, Susiya and Lusifer with the Abu Kbeita family. This whole area is crying out to hasten legal methods.
As a person in distress, he finds it difficult to understand and accept this and is mainly concerned with the feeling of discrimination and deprivation among them. I listened only, as you can understand the complexity of the situation. “We are under siege, we need help against the settlers, the situation is getting worse, in the end we will leave here.” he says, exhausted and angry. When the police are called, the police say they have no authority to do anything against the army and the army guards the settlers, the settlers who have been inducted into the army, to be more precise. Tells about the video where you see the settlers wanting to take his son’s identity card from him. And he is angry and asks: “Why can the Palestinians not be allowed to roam freely on their land and in their homes?” In the end, they let his son go and left without delay and without taking anything, but these acts of attrition bring them to the brink of despair.
There is not much we can do.
If there is someone who has connections with these lawyers, maybe we can apply for them as well. “They are not responding to my request,” he repeats.
Location Description
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 TsadikDec-23-2025Wadi Shahish - The family car vandalized by settlers
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Masafer Yatta*
See all reports for this placeMeitar 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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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
Michal TsadikDec-23-2025Wadi Shahish - The family car vandalized by settlers
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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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