Umm al-Kheir - the settler from Shorashim Farm is abusive and the policemen who arrive do not help

Place:

Meitar checkpoint / Sansana

South Hebron Hills

Umm al-Kheir

Zanuta

Observers:

Raya Y. Translator: Natanya

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Nov-7-2024

Morning

Umm al-Kheir - the settler Attiah boyd

Photo:

A Palestinian resident

Umm al-Kheir - the settler Attiah's boys 2

Photo:

A Palestinian resident

Umm al-Kheir - the damaged water pipe

Photo:

A Palestinian resident

At the checkpoint there was little traffic of vehicles. Trucks pass from Israel towards the West Bank. There are around 100 Palestinian vehicles in the parking lot, according to what we have been told by locals, only about 200 Palestinians (inaccurate number) move to work in Israel.

After the checkpoint along road 60, many soldiers watch along the road, in order to catch illegal workers.

An ATV with an Israeli flag spins inside Zanuta.

On road 317 after Abu Safi's house, in the hills where Ahmad al ‘Ubli lived (deported before the war), east of Eshtaol, a new settlement is apparently being built, sheds and trailers there.

Close to Yatta in area B, a house was destroyed on Wednesday (without a demolition order).

Khalil from Umm al-Kheir (next to Carmel), reports to us that the settler from the Shorashim Farm is abusing them, Khalil is taking pictures of him. The police arrived at the scene after a complaint from the residents of Umm Al Kheir but did not solve the problem of abuse.

If they haven't been beaten, the police do nothing. The fact that the hilltop youth disrupt the water supply, rip the pipes, and the young hooligans roam freely in the village does not require police intervention.

Location Description

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

הקמת המאחז על יד חוות מיתרים, בסמוך לזנותא, מיישרים את השטח על כביש 60

Mar-9-2025

Smadar Becker

The establishment of the outpost near the Meitarim Farm, near Zanuta, aligning the area with Highway 60

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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana

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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana

The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit.

In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded.

Updated April 2022

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 info-icon .

Zanuta

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Zanuta was a small rural Palestinian locality until its demolition. It was situated in the space around the town Dahariya in the South Hebron Hills, about a ten-minute ride from Meitar Checkpoint. There are documented remains of a large Byzantine settlement in the area. Since the Ottoman (Turkish Empire) period (1516-1917) Zanuta was documented as a locality of shepherds and farmers who live in the remains of the ancient structures and the residential caves near them.

Two individual ranches of colonists were created next to Zanuta: Meitarim (of the colonist Yinon Levi) to the east, and Yehudah (of the colonist Elyashiv Nachum) to the north. Endless attacks, harassments and attempt to chase away the Zanuta villagers have originated in these two outposts.

Until the expulsion, four families lived in the village: A-Samama, Al-Tel, Al Batat, and Al-Qaisia. Farming constituted their main economic activity and employed most of the villagers. The total area of the village is about 12,000 dunams, of which about 3,000 are tended, mostly with field crops.

This village has never had a master plan that would legitimize construction permits. The Civil Administration info-icon claimed it was too small and the distance to the next town, Dahariya, too great. For this reason, the Israeli authorities pressured the villagers to leave. The colonists did the job for them.