Masafer Yatta – installing pipes underground from fear of settlers

Place:

A-Tuwani

South Hebron Hills

Observers:

Smadar Becker (reporting) and Muhammad (photographing); Translator: Natanya

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Nov-10-2022

Morning

At-Tuwani- with Naser Adara and his brother Na’im

Photo:

Muhammad D

Route 317: We drove from the Zanuta area to the Meitar junction where the road has been scoured. I wonder why, I don't remember that there was any problem.

Every shift I check whether the tents that have been destroyed each time (by settlers and the army) in Wadi Jahish are still standing there. This time we saw 3 tents again.

We continued to At-Tuwani to visit Nasser Adara. He shows us the shed he set up in the room where we are staying, in his mother's house. In the center of the room is a wood stove which will help them to deal with the cold..

I ask what are the 3 rolls of black pipes we saw at the entrance to the village. Nasser explains that since settlers cut the pipes that carried water from At-Tuwani to the surrounding villages, they are installing the pipes again, this time underground. The work of digging is done by the people of the villages, who, as usual, are united by solidarity and mutual help.

His brother Na’im, 65 years old, who lives next door, is staying with Nasser. He has a permit to work in Ashkelon.

They say that the day before, they were sitting with Ariela and Ehud (the village group) in the same place where we are sitting (outside, near the gas station). They saw an acquaintance from the village of Al-Jawiya (the village in front of At-Tuwani, beyond Highway 317), with an amputated hand, whom the army stopped and took his car.

A routine of confiscating vehicles that disrupts life.

If you can do something evil why not?

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

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At-Tuwani

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The locals came to At-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 at-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 20th 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 at-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 at-Tuwani there are several families who have returned to the caves due to the incessant demolitions of the civil administration info-icon (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. at-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

Apr-10-2024

Muhammad D.

Sa'ir - Yael and Ahmad

View the full album