Umm Al-Kheir – dozens of settlers and soldiers invade houses, frighten and cause havoc
A shift to Masafer Yatta
At the Meitarim junction we turned to road 317, towards Umm Al Kheir, to meet Eid who was arrested the day before, and was released in the evening.
We pass the Asael settlement and near it we notice a small sign pointing to Mitzpeh Kedem. The name may not mean much, but this outpost was actually mentioned in the media. On 4.12.23, despite the opposition of Minister Smotrich, the houses of the 2 families who settled there were dismantled, on the orders of General Yehuda Fuchs. And what’s new? From what we saw, they renewed their stay at the place. We will continue to follow.
Later, on road 317, pillars were erected and between pillar to pillar there was a connecting wire. It turns out that a new patent has been found to demarcate territory and limit the entry of Palestinians. This is called the Shabbat area, an area that indicates to the Jews how far they are allowed to go on Shabbat and holidays.
We stopped in At-Tuwani to pick up packages we received from the Rabbinical Voice for Human Rights, to bring to some families in Umm Al Kheir. We met Hamed Kawasma, the UN representative, whose seat is in Hebron, and he comes to Masafer Yatta to visit the villages, report and help in cases of difficulty.
Naser Adra tells us about settlers from Avigayil who came accompanied by soldiers to remove Rasmi Abu Aram (the late Harun’s father who was shot in the neck by a soldier and suffered a great deal of severe disability and died a year ago).
If it is possible to abuse, then more and more.
We notice a van with an orange lamp on its roof, and another vehicle, between Havat Ma’on and At- Tuwani. We were able to notice and photograph the establishment of a Shabbat area, as had already been established around Avigayil.
We continued to Umm Al Kheir to meet Eid and other relatives of his family. It turns out that Eid left early in the morning for further investigation.
He is accused of interfering with the security forces.
We meet at the Shig where they hosted us, the NRC representatives from Bethlehem, who come to the area often. Ahmad says that the day before our arrival, 14 settlers arrived from the adjacent settlement of Carmel, dressed and equipped as combat soldiers and holding long weapons, as we know from the beginning of the war on October 7. Before their arrival, they activated a drone.
The above-mentioned 14 were joined by 15 soldiers who are not from the settlement, invaded 20 houses and conducted a search that caused disorder and frightened the household members.
6 volunteers came to document and photograph the event, but the army called the police to remove them.
In a post on the page of the extreme right-wing organization Im Tirtzu, “If You Want”, an organization very much on the right, it can be seen that its operatives were there and documenting the volunteers known as “anarchists”.
The army stayed in the village for four hours, and at the end of the event, Eid was arrested.
We handed over the food packages, clothes and games we brought with us.
The occupation does not rest.
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
Muhammad D.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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Mesafer Yatta
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Masafer Yatta
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Umm al-Kheir
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Umm al-Kheir
A Palestinian village in the southern Hebron governorate, populated by five families. The Palestinian residents settled there decades ago, after Israel expelled them from the Arad desert and purchased the land from the residents of the Palestinian village of Yatta. The village suffers from the violence of nearby Carmel settlers, from water shortage and is subject to frequent demolition of buildings by the Civil Administration.
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