South Hebron Hills - The villagers themselves are not allowed to cultivate and take care of their land
It is two days before the Muslim holiday Eid al Fitr, the end of the fast month of Ramadan. The drive to the Meitar Checkpoint took a half hour instead of the usual five minutes. Many people were driving to Hebron and Dhahiriya to buy food and clothes for the holiday. The passage through the checkpoint is fast, the parking lots in the checkpoint area are still empty because workers have not been allowed to enter Israel since the beginning of the war!
We drove to Route 317 and at the Shani Livne junction, opposite the pillbox, we saw two ATVs with settlers in uniform (?) with face coverings, and two Palestinian farmers with blindfolds. It seems that they worked in the field and collected hay. It is not clear whether their mere work in the field or their proximity to Pillbox caused their arrest. It was a difficult sight to see.
We continued on to A-Tuwani to visit Nasser Edra. He told us that there is constant disorder. A settler from the Maon Farm on the nearby hill comes on horseback with his herd of cows to graze. When they call the police the settler quickly leaves before the police arrive. When the police return he comes back again.
The villagers are not permitted to drive outside the villages to tend their fields or to take their flocks out to graze. A week ago some of the villagers went out to work their fields that are located within the village near the entrance. The settlers called the army and soldiers arrived, sent the men home, and arrested two women. They were taken to the police station in Kiryat Arba and were not released until the evening. Such events occur almost every day.
During the night the army conducts patrols within the village, but they no longer make a disturbance as they did at the beginning of the war.
The checkpoint at Yata and the village of Carmel, which is located opposite the entrance to A-Tuwani is often closed and vehicles cannot pass. The residents are forced to drive around and take a much longer route, which is time consuming and tiring. This is obviously the objective.
Since the war began we see more and more concrete guard posts with soldiers throughout the area around the Jewish settlements. At Khalet al-Maiyya there was also a gate being built that could be shut to block the entrance to Yata. This is in addition to all the other entrances that are already closed.
We could see the numerous blockades at the various roads all along the way built from boulders, concrete blocks, or gates. This makes people’s lives even more difficult than they are already.
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
Smadar BeckerApr-10-2026New Israeli flags placed for miles on Highway 317 to prove who is sovereign
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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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