South Hebron Hills – the supervisor of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is unauthorized toconfisce a tractor
Today is particularly rainy, and road 60 is almost empty of vehicles.
At the junction of Meitar, a menorah is displayed and next to it is the flag of Israel.
Everyone will know who the “lords of the lamp” are here.
On road 317 we turn to the village of Sha’ab al-Butum. The good road is blocked like in all the villages since October 7th.
In front of us comes a vehicle in which we recognize the great Ehud and Erela from the Villlages Group. We exchange words about the terrible situation and share our feelings.
Later, a van with two employees of Doctors Without Borders stops next to us. They come to the villages and help in whatever way they can. This time they brought basic foodstuffs, such as canned foods and oil. They live in Hebron.
Our visit begins with Yishak Jabarin’s shig. Everything is flooded around because of torrential rain. Their sons and children also gather around the warm-up.
Yishak says that two weeks ago, Yedidia Talia, an inspector of the Nature Reserve Authority in the area, from the infamous Talia farm, dragged the tractor used by the whole family with his van.
Yishak heard the policemen and the DCO officers told Yedidia that he was not allowed to do that. He did not respond to them, and only after 3 days, they received assistance from Akram from the DCO, who accompanied them until they reached the village.
Since there is a fear that the tractor will be taken, they cultivate the little area they still have left (the settlers evict the Palestinians from their lands) with the help of donkeys, for 3 days instead of one day using the tractor.
The other day, Yishak says, the border guards came to take pictures of Issa’s house, which they destroyed about 3 weeks ago, and threatened him that if he builds again, the house will be destroyed.
From there we continued to visit Laila, Muhammad and their children. As I recall, since the settlers destroyed the interior of the house and the yard, tore water pipes and solar panels, they live in the room they received from Ibrahim Jabarin. I ask what about their house and they say that settlers took 2 water tanks from them.
Muhammad goes to the Kiryat Arba police station to report every action of the settlers.
We know it was recorded, and that’s where it ends.
Today the children went to school, and the adults are sitting around the heating (by wood) and since there is no work, they are all there.
Ibrahim, who destroyed his house for the third time when we were there last time, just minutes after the demolition, invites us to the tent he set up, where he lives with his wife.
Winter and cold penetrates, but they will not move from there.
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
Muhammad D.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
-
