Wadi Jahsh – settlers pray and demolish while the army stands by

Place:

Masafer Yatta

Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

South Hebron Hills

Susiya

Observers:

Smadar Becker (reporting), and Muhammad. Photo: Muhammad Khader; Translator: Nayanya

Leave this field blank

Oct-9-2022

Morning

ואדי ג'אחש - מתנחלים מתפללים לפני ההרס והצבא עומד מנגד

Wadi Jahsh – settlets pray and destroy while the soldiers stand by

Photo:

Muhammad Khader

Meitar : Relatively few vehicles, being eve of Sukkot, and the closure starts tonight.

In the morning, Hisham Abed called our Muhammad, and asked us to come, as his home had been demolished. He lives between Shuyukh and Hebron

On our way there, near Karma, a few km from Otniel, a convoy of cars, some of which began to make a U-turn and return. After some questions, Muhammad was told that there was a suspicious object and the army was not allowing people through. We cancelled the trip to the Hebron area.

Nasser Nawaja’, from Susiya, told us about settlers who entered the village of Wadi Jahsh. We went there.

The village is in front of Menza, a small village, numbering 7 families, very close to Samu’.

Abed Nawaja’, Nasser's brother, was there with 4 foreign activists from the organization, EAPPI: World Council of Churches "The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel” is an international, ecumenical program that recruits and dispatches observers to several Palestinian towns and villages to monitor the interaction between the Palestinian inhabitants and the Israeli military.

Abed succinctly recounted the details of the event, and Muhammad Khader later expanded:

At 6.00 in the morning, about 50 settlers from the settlement Susiya arrived in the village in vehicles, and began to pray and destroy.

The settlers were in the village for about 3 hours, destroying and rampaging, while the army was right there , standing at the side, without action!. This can also be seen in the photos.

All of Muhammad Khader's possessions, which had been thrown around, were loaded onto his cart and van.

The settlers and the army only left when the Border Police arrived. Later, with the help of friends, the Palestinians said that they would set up the tents again.

I ask Muhammad if this happens often, and it turns out that it does. There were times when they also uprooted olive tree seedlings and took (stole) them with them. This has happened 4 times lately, usually around midnight.

There is no rest in this area. The settlers don't let up

Location Description

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

See all reports for this place

Yatta is a city located in the South Hebron Hills region. It is located in the border zone between the fertile area of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants. The surrounding villages are called Masafar 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, a number of 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 the withholding of 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. Road blocks 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

Apr-10-2024

Muhammad D.

Sa'ir - Yael and Ahmad

View the full album

Meitar

See all reports for this place

Susiya

See all reports for this place

The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base.
The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced.

The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages.

Updated April 2021, Anat T.

Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

See all reports for this place

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 (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