South Hebron Hills - most of the entrances to the Palestinian settlements are closed
On the way to Mufaqara to the Hamamada family, we scanned Route 60 again.
Same situation since 7.10. Most of the entrances to the Palestinian settlements are closed and those that are open are monitored by soldiers. As I wrote in the last few weeks, there are some such as the entrance from Qilqis to Hebron, or Yatta or the Zif junction, the back-to-back system is in place to allow people or goods to reach the district for their belongings. Or stone and dirt blocks, from a simple existential necessity, break-ins and people moving and shaking under the watchful eye of soldiers.
At Zif grocery store, we bought again basic food items and brought them to Fadel and his family.
We brought hearing aids to Fadel according to his request, second hand, which Yael Zoran immediately obtained. He says there is someone who will fit them in Yatta. Let’s hope that these will make it a little easier for him.
He tells about an incident from a month ago, exactly on 27.9, when the police took him for questioning in Kiryat Arba on the pretext that a new settler named Avihai complained that Fadel had threatened to kill him. Fadel asked how could he have threatened him when he is not able to come close to him? A good question. But this was enough for the Israeli Police to issue an order preventing Fadel from moving further from his home than 100 m. for 5 months, that is, he cannot go down to his fields or graze his sheep.
“And if they come to me and attack me in my house?” Fadel asks.
“Then complain to the police,” say police officers who do nothing to protect him.
“And if the sheep have to be taken to pasture to feed them?”
“Leave the sheep at home and bring them the food to the pen.” He is answered. “After five months we will decide whether to allow you to move around your territories again. We will see how you behave during these 5 months of conditions.”
In the meantime, Avihai has hilltop youths who come with their herds, shout words that he does not want to repeat and make obscene gestures. Sometimes they are two and sometimes five or six. He does not dare to say anything to them and, of course does not try to take pictures.
His wife talks about a drone that hovers over them almost every day and takes pictures. Yesterday a settler came with his flock to their fields and drove them away with their sheep. The settlers circle around them all the time, day and night with ATVs to scare, deter and constantly remind who is the master of the land here. Here too, they are encircled, suffocated, they can only move certain distances and around them another truck that became a residence, another trailer, another shack.
Adv. Neta Amar and Qamar Mishraki take care of all the matters of their lands, the demolition order that is on their “home” and the threats of deportation.
On the way back, we saw the school teachers walking back to their home in Yatta, on the blocked road across from the At–Tuwani entrance road.
Have we already said occupation routine?
Location Description
Masafer Yatta
See all reports for this place-
This is happening in Fire Area 918 in the South Hebron Hills
On the eve of Remembrance Day (the day before Israel Independence Day), 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 1980's 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 Palestiniian villages retain a special lifestyle and ancient agricultural culture. They also posses 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 in 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 has started, and life has become harder.
-
South Hebron Hills
See all reports for this place-
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
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
-
Zif Junction
See all reports for this place-
Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
-
