South Hebron Hills: Settlers set a house on fire in Hirbet a-Sfay. The villages of Simia and Shweikeh are blocked.
Hirbet A-Sfay is a small village in Masafer Yatta located southwest of the violent outpost Havat Maon. Previous reports spoke about the demolition of the elementary school in A-Sfay.
We spoke to Yusuf, who told us what had happened there since the beginning of the war. On Sunday, October 8th, settlers came and vandalized the water tanks. Since then they have had no water and have had to rely on cisterns.
The residents of the village attempted to bring water with their tractor, but were arrested by the army and detained for hours. The soldiers then confiscated the keys to the tractor and have not yet returned them.
During the past week settlers wearing army uniforms invaded the village and forced people out of their homes. Yusuf thinks that they want to evict them, but the village residents are strong and will not leave.
On Sunday night the settlers set fire to a house , which luckily was empty.
The Palestinian villages along Route 60 have been blocked off.
Hirbet a-Simia is a very small village located to the west of Route 60 between the settlements of Shim’a and Otniel on the opposite side of the road.
Farhan is a social activist in the village as well as the main organizer in the school that was demolished several times. He explained: On Saturday, October 7th all the exits from Simia to Route 60 were closed. The entrances to the town of Samu on the opposite side were also closed. The village of Simia is dependent upon the village of Samu for commerce and social services. Samu can now be entered from Karameh which is north of Samu because it has one entrance that is still open. Occasionally the blockade to Route 60 is opened. They play with the army by opening the blockade and the army closes it again. People are forced to drive around until they reach Karameh to the north in order to purchase food.
There is also a shortage of water because the people are forced to use cisterns and must do without showers.
The village of Shweikeh, southwest of Simia is also closed with dirt embankments on all sides.
Farhan parks his car in Samu on the other side of the road and crosses on foot, carrying all the groceries and a gas balloon as well.
In addition to all these difficulties, they are extremely afraid of the settlers.
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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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
Smadar BeckerApr-10-2026New Israeli flags placed for miles on Highway 317 to prove who is sovereign
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