The Abu Kbeita family - systematic harassment while passing through the checkpoint
We went to the home of the Abu Kbeita families who live next to the Beit Yatir, a settlement on the Israeli side of the fence, but who are still deprived of rights like all the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Because of this, their daily routine is with the constant need to pass through the Metsadot Yehuda checkpoint. Children go to school in Imneizil and adults go for all their needs to Yatta.
Although they are all registered and known, each movement involves the need for coordination and approval. Since 7.10 everything is harsher and humiliating.
They are of course not allowed to go to work in Israel, but they also cannot cultivate their land and graze their sheep. Fences and gates were erected by the people of Havat Talia outpost in front of them, out of revenge for the murder of their mother when she visited Kibbutz Ein Hasholsha on October 7. Rampant with the authority and the permission and with weapons and uniforms which the settlers received from the IDF they patrol and harass in every way they can.
When both sides complain to the police, only the Palestinians are arrested and interrogated. The backup is from Ben Gavir.
We bought basic necessities for the Abu Kbeita family.
We sat in a cave that they dug for themselves, Mustafa and his wife a few years ago, after their homes were destroyed in 2016. “In the cave it is always cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter”, Mustafa tells us.
Yesterday, he says, Bezalel, the settler, went around with the ATV as usual around their houses. This is what the settlers do at all hours of the day and night, the actions of the lords of the land, disturbing the rest of the Palestinians, as a routine, even when nothing really is happening. Mustafa also says that a month ago all the family members were sitting outside in the evening. Suddenly there was a noise from the hill at the foot of which they live, where there is a pre-military training camp. Young men came out of the prep school and started throwing stones. When he went to the fence to ask them to stop, a guide named Moshe came to find out what was going on. When he heard from Mustafa about the stone throwing by his boys, he took responsibility and promised to make sure it stopped. And so, it has been quiet ever since. It is good that there is also something positive happening there.
But they suffer all the time from problems at the Metsadot Yehuda checkpoint. Everything has become harder. The behaviour of the guards at the checkpoint is worse and coordination is demanded for everything which once did not require approvals. They mentioned in particular the bad behaviour of a woman inspector named Sharona. In the end, they are always allowed to pass, but everything is very strict. Both Mustafa and Mahmoud, their uncle, who lives nearby, whom we also visited later, tell of a meeting that was organized between them and the representatives of the DCL at the request of attorney Kamar Misharki, who filed an appeal to the High Court on their behalf. This is about the abusive conduct of the authorities since the war.
Mahmoud, who is still unable to touch the ruins of his son’s house that was demolished a few months ago, recounts the meeting attended by Gilad, the head of the checkpoint, a representative of the DCL, family members and attorney Kamar, according to the authorities’ request, because of the appeal to the High Court of Justice that was filed against them. Gilad answered them: “These are the instructions. If there are no suitable facilities such as in Meitaf checkpoint to check the barley sacks, then you have to wait for dogs to be brought to sniff.”
They ask:
How will we get to Meitar checkpoint? We are not allowed to go there. A real catch 22. Why isn’t this checkpoint also equipped with the same testing facilities? Why are there no X-ray devices, why do we have to wait for trainers of the dogs and the dogs themselves? After all this had already been coordinated with the authorities. We are victims of the disorganization of the state, he says. In general, there are too many inquiries all the time: where did you come from, where are you going, what are you doing? All this for those people who are known and get approvals, things they didn’t do before the war. Everything is harsher, more violent, more offensive, he says and rightly: “There is no law and no justice”. To my question about the summary of the meeting, if anything was decided. Mahmoud says: We didn’t feel that anyone was interested in making it easy for us to just get home.
occupation routine.
I add that Israel does well to respond mainly to what has already happened.
Someone really wants to open another war front.
Location Description
Beit Yatir / Metsadot Yehudah Checkpoint
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An terminal barrier towards Israel on the Separation Barrier (far from the Green Line) near the Beit Yatir settlement. Palestinian passage is prohibited, except for members of the Qabita family living on the western side of the separation fence (which are also not allowed movement in Israel).
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Imneizil
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Imneizil Located below the settlement of Beit Yatir near the Beit Yatir / Metsadot Yehuda checkpointhe, this village is part of the Palestinian settlements in the southern Hebron Mountains.Amnesiel has a school for the children of the area, also children of two clans from the Abu Qabita tribe who remained on the Israeli side of the Separation fence, along with some of the agricultural lands of Amnesiel. The women of MachsomWatch are monitoring the Metzsadot Yehuda checkpoint, and are in contact with the Abu Qabita family. We receive from them reports of prevention of entry and transfer of necessary goods.
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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
Raya YeorMay-15-2025No-traffic signs around Dahariya
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