South Hebron Hills – expulsion!
Due to the situation, we have not been on duty in recent weeks.
Yesterday we dared to go out.
It was important in all respects to visit, to see and to hear some of the difficult events experienced by our friend in the South Hebron Hills.
I also really wanted to give them the donation which we had decided to give them and it was made possible thanks to your friendship.
We had the money and could respond to their request to purchase a minibus to transport the children in the villages around At-Tuwani to the school and back.
I was glad that Leah and Moshe asked to join this shift.
According to Leah, Moshe was shocked by what was happening and wanted himself to to see and hear.
On the way to At-Tuwani we saw a transit and 7 settlers on the hill where stands Maktal Umm Salem. Amer Awada lives there. On the phone, he tells Muhammed that he was evicted from his house on Saturday. The settlers came, beat him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave his house. According to him, they also stole his equipment and also took his phones. His and his brother’s hands were tied. Then they left. Now he is with his family and the sheep at the entrance to Samu’.
When we returned, we saw that the settlers had burned the entire compound. Of course, we didn’t dare to get closer and took pictures from the road.
We arrived in At-Tuwani. We met Nasser and Bassel his son. We were happy to give the money, our gift, to Nasser Adra, the organizer of this transport. At my request, they wrote a receipt confirming that they received the money from us for this purpose.
Bassel says that on 15.10, settlers in military uniform arrived at night in Wadi Radim to Amer and his neighbour[N1] , Abu Safi. The settlers told them: ”You have two hours to vacate and leave”. They cut the water pipe and the power cable. Of course, the Palestinians had to leave immediately. After a few hours, the settlers came with a bulldozer a nd destroyed what had once been his house and property.
There are two settler families who were responsible: Yinon, who has a farm near Zanota, and Yisrael Kaplan near Mitzpe Asa’el. Bassel says that it is not possible to know who were active in this matter recently. Two days later, they came to Abu Safi, beat him, threatened him that he should leave and closed all the roads to Wadi Radim.
Bassel and Nasser also tell aboutt the Abu Hani family who lived between Avigayil and Mufaqara. They have also been forced to leave and in the meantime have moved to Sha’ab al Butum, but they have lost everything. We will visit them and bring them supplies as much as we can.
Nasser says that At-Tuwani was also informed that the water would be cut off. So far it hasn’t happened.
The school is closed because the roads to all the surrounding villages are closed and the teachers cannot get to work. The car we helped purchase is still in its wrappings and waiting for the resumption of studies.
And the road to Yatta, which is across the road in front of the entrance to At-Tuwani, a barrier and a flag were placed and Palestinian cars are being stopped there.
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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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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