comewithSha'b el Butum - settlers from Mitzpe Yair destroy the crops with their herds
We went to Sha’b el Butum whose people are suffering from the abuse of Mitzpe Yair and Mitzpe Abigail settlers.
The children are at home today because of a strike in response to the death of Khader Adnan who was on hunger strike in prison for 86 days.
This small settlement is located in the middle between the two settlements. There are about 35 families in it and the lands where grain, vegetables, olives and vines are grown have been theirs since time immemorial. The police who are called each time tell the settlers that these are lands that do not belong to anyone and withdraw the settlers back to their homes and then they disperse. But they continue to come with their herds almost every day and raid the fields and thus destroy the crops. The army comes every time there is a conflict and protects the settlers who come claiming that these are state lands and they deserve to be enslaved. On the way there we passed by a place called Wadada which is suffering from attacks by settlers. A tractor is working there preparing the area to build a winery.
We arrived at Sha’b el Butum and met Ishak, the head of the Jabarin family, also Mahmud Musa from the Najara family says that shortly before we arrived, the settlers with their herds from Mitzpe Yair came onto his lands where the wheat and barley are intended for human and animal consumption.
Ishak Jabarin says it happens every day.
Ta’ayush and volunteers come to their aid
He also says that last Saturday the settlers chased after his sons. Mitzpe Abigail is about 600 m from their settlement.
In the videos you can see the difference between the ruins of their houses that were destroyed about 3 months ago compared to the expansion of Abigail, the new villas and the trailers that were added.
The trend of the Israeli government is clear and visible.
The people also tell us that 4 days ago settlers came and claimed that they had stolen sheep and there was a real physical confrontation between them. The army and the police came with the settlers and did a search and when they saw that they didn’t have any of their sheep they left.
While talking, a neighbour whose house is closer to Mitzpe Yair calls and says that half an hour ago settlers came to him and tried to scare him. Again. Police and army were called and again the army says that these are state lands and the police said that these are Palestinian lands that are close to his house.
So the situation is this: the army protects the settlers and the police “protects” the Palestinians.
Fortunately, peace organizations and volunteers come to their aid. Ishak says that they destroyed 500 dunams of theirs in their raids on the sheep.
Mesafer Yatta
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This is happening in Fire Area 918 in the South Hebron Hills
On the eve of Remembrance Day (the day before Israel Independence Day), 4th May, 2022, the Israeli High Court decided on the transfer and expulsion of residents from 8 Palestinian communities in the area of Masafar Yata in the South Hebron Hills. Residents of the villages have been living under the threat of demolition, evacuation and expropriation since the IDF issued evacuation orders in 1999 based on the 1980s proclamation of their area of residence as a firing zone for IDF drills. None of the nearby settlements were included in this zone. The Masafer Yata Palestinian villages retain a special lifestyle and ancient agricultural culture. They also posess a clear historical documentation that testifies to a Palestinian settlement in this area, generations before the establishment of Israel, long ago in the caves and at later times outside them.
Evacuating residents from the area means destroying these historic villages and leaving entire families (about 2,000 people, children, adults, and the elderly) homeless. This is contrary to international law.
In June 2022, a firing drill started, and life became harder.
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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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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