Israeli military imposes severe travel restrictions on 4 Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta

27 November 2017

דחפור של הצבא מוביל סלעים לחסימת דרך במסאפר יטא, 9.11.17. צילום: נידאל יונס, ראש מועצת מסאפר יטא, תושב ח'רבת ג'ינבה.

Four Palestinian communities in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills have been under military-imposed travel restrictions since 9 November 2017. The communities – Khirbet al-Halawah, Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Fakhit and Khirbet al-Markez – are home to some 600 residents, about half of them minors. To leave the area, residents must now drive to a roadblock, leave their car, walk several hundred meters to the main road and then take a taxi to their destination.

These communities are not connected to running water and depend on water delivered in trucks by aid organizations every day. Because of the access restrictions, the organizations have not been able to deliver water since 15 November, and the residents have been suffering a water shortage. On Thursday, 9 November, at 9:00 A.M., military forces equipped with a digger arrived in the area. They blocked off the roads leading from Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Fakhit and Khirbet al-Halawah to the main road, Route 317, with dirt piles and rocks. This prevented residents from accessing the main road, but did not prevent travel between the communities.

After the military left, residents partially opened the roadblocks, allowing cars to get through. On 15 November, the military returned and blocked the roads again.

The military also gradually blocked off the roads linking between the communities: the exit from Khirbet al-Markez was sealed off on 15 November, the exit from Khirbet al-Halawah on 19 November, and Khirbet al-Fakhit on 20 November. That day, the military also blocked off a narrow alternate road that residents had cleared near one of the roadblocks, leading to the main road.

The roadblocks are still in place today (28 November). One was temporarily opened on 22 November to enable military forces to reach Khirbet al-Khalawah and demolish a home there. Once the demolition was completed, the forces blocked the road again.

Residents of these and other communities in Masafer Yatta have been suffering incessant harassment by Israel for decades. Israel does not allow them to connect to infrastructure and repeatedly demolishes their homes, in an attempt to drive them out of the area. In the late 1970s, the military declared a large area in the Masafer Yatta region, which is home to twelve Palestinian communities, as “Firing Zone 918”; in the 1990s, it expelled residents from their homes. These residents were permitted to return thanks to an injunction issued by Israel’s High Court of Justice in response to several petitions, which forbade the state from demolishing the homes pending resolution of the petitions. However, the authorities continue to harass residents of the area, in an attempt to drive them out.

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מכונית פלסטינית מתרחקת מתעלה שחפר הצבא בדרך המובילה למסאפר יאטא. צילום: נסר נוואג'עה, בצלם, 26.12.17

Communities Facing Expulsion

Israeli military tightens travel restrictions on Masafer Yatta in attempt to drive Palestinians out

Since the beginning of November 2017, the Israeli military has been imposing harsh travel restrictions on the Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. At first, the military blocked several roads in the area with dirt piles and rocks. Later, after residents removed some of the roadblocks, the military dug deep, wide ditches across the roads that prevent any sort of access by vehicle. The residents of Masafer Yatta have been suffering incessant harassment by Israel for decades. Israel does not allow them to connect to infrastructure and repeatedly demolishes their homes, in an attempt to drive them out of the area. Forcible transfer of residents constitutes a war crime. This will hold true even if the residents of these communities leave their homes, supposedly of their own volition, due to the unbearable living conditions that Israel’s policy is forcing upon them. Military bulldozer digging a ditch across a road leading to Masafer Yatta. Filmed by Nasser Nawaj'ah, B'Tselem, 26 Dec. 2017 On 9 November 2017, military forces blocked off the roads leading from the communities of Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al-Fakhit and Khirbet al-Halawah to the main road in the area, Route 317, with dirt piles and rocks. To leave the area, residents had to drive to a roadblock, leave their car, walk several hundred meters to the main road and then take a taxi to their destination. A few days later, residents partially opened the roadblocks, allowing cars through again. However, on 15 November, the military blocked the roads again, as well as the road leading out of Khirbet al-Markez. On 19 and 20 November, the military again blocked the roads to Khirbet al-Halawah and Khirbet al-Fakhit, which the residents had opened. The residents partially removed some of the roadblocks, but on 26 December the military placed rocks and dug deep, wide ditches across three main roads that lead to Route 317 – Khasham al-Buttom, Bir al-‘Eid and the way to a-Tuwani. This almost entirely sealed off the communities of Masafer Yatta, leaving residents almost no access in and out of the area. Five days later, residents managed to reopen the way to Khasham al-Buttom for cars and tractors. On 30 January 2018, they also reopened the way to Beir al-‘Eid to traffic, but as the road is in poor condition, it cannot be used to transport water, animal feed or groceries in wagons to these isolated communities. For three months now, the residents of Masafer Yatta have been suffering harsh travel restrictions that force them to walk long distances, sometimes in harsh weather, or to drive along rough routes that damage their cars and cannot be used to transport bulk goods. These restrictions are the latest in a long line of abusive practices employed by the Israeli authorities as part of an attempt to remove the residents from area. The following testimonies were given to B’Tselem field researchers Musa Abu Hashhash and Manal al-Ja’bri on 27 December 2017. Hamzah Abu ‘Aram (29), a married father of one and farmer from the community of Khirbet al-Maghaz in Masafer Yatta, related: My father and I own more than 150 heads of sheep. When it doesn’t rain, I have to drive all the way to Yatta almost daily to buy water and feed for the animals, as well as groceries for us. I drive a tractor that’s connected to a water tank behind, which I fill up there. Before they blocked off the roads in November, traveling from al-Maghaz to Yatta would take me about an hour in each direction. I drove along dirt roads used by farmers, through Bir al-‘Eid, Shu’b al-Buttom or a-Tuwani. I usually preferred the latter because it was the shortest route – only 12 kilometers. In November, the Israeli military blocked off the three roads leading out of Masafer Yatta with dirt piles, but the residents partially removed them and we managed to get through somehow. Yesterday, the military forces came back and dug ditches across all three roads. When I saw them, I was shocked. They’re about three meters wide and more than two meters deep. I realized that none of us will be able to use these roads any more, by car or by tractor. Yesterday I didn’t even try to go in to Yatta, because of the ditches. But today I had to go, because I had to get animal feed and pay back the merchant who sells it. I rode a donkey to a-Tuwani. I left home at 8:30 A.M. and got to Yatta at 11:00 A.M. I’m very worried and have no idea how I’ll be able to keep up a regular supply of water and feed for the animals and groceries for us. The donkey won’t be able to carry all that. If someone from my family gets sick, how can we take him to the clinic at Yatta? They closed off the roads to make our lives difficult and pressure us into leaving the area, but that’s out of the question. I very much hope that our suffering will come to an end. Video: Demolition of a structure in Khirbet Jenbah, 2 Feb. 2016. Filmed by Nasser Nawaj'ah, B'Tselem Majedah Raba’i (36), a married mother of four and the secretary of the Yatta local council, lives in the community of Khirbet Jenbah in Masafer Yatta. In her testimony, she stated: I’m married to Jibrin Raba’i and we have four children. The eldest is 15 and the youngest is nine months old. I work every day. Until yesterday, every morning a council vehicle would come by and pick up the employees. We’d drive along the Bir al-‘Eid road and sometimes through Shu’b al-Buttom. It took about half an hour to get to work. At the end of November and throughout December, the Israeli military blocked off several roads that lead to Masafer Yatta with dirt piles, but the farmers and residents partially reopened them, so we could still drive along the roads. Yesterday morning I went to work as usual. Later, I learned that the military had closed off all three roads to Masafer Yatta – Bir al-‘Eid, Shu’b al-Buttom and a-Tuwani. I got very nervous. I couldn’t get home and had to sleep over at some relatives of mine in Yatta. Today I have to get home, because I have young children. After I finish work, the council vehicle will take me as far as the ditch along the Bir al-‘Eid way, and from there I’ll have to continue at least two kilometers on foot. The weather isn’t good and it will be hard. We won’t be able to keep this up for long, especially with the rain and mud on the dirt paths. My husband told me that no vehicles can drive along those roads right now. If this carries on, I won’t be able to come in to work. I won’t be the only one to suffer from these roadblocks. My children and relatives will suffer, too. We won’t be able to take the kids to the doctor in Yatta, and my father-in-law is going to have a huge problem buying water and feed for the livestock. This is basically an extreme kind of siege that is affecting the lives of everyone in Masafer Yatta. The goal is to pressure us into leaving the area. It’s a violation of our most basic rights. Nabil Abu ‘Aram (33), a married father of two and a teacher in Jenbah , lives in Yatta. He related: I’m a maths teacher and have been working for five years at the co-ed elementary school at Jenbah , in Masafer Yatta. I drive to school in my car and give several other teachers a ride. We take the road through Bir al-‘Eid because it’s the shortest route. Sometimes we take the other roads, to Shu’b al-Buttom or a-Tuwani, because some teachers go to school in al-Fakhit . All these roads are unpaved dirt paths used by farmers. In November, the Israeli military placed dirt piles across all three roads and blocked them off to vehicles. The farmers and residents partially reopened them later, so we could still drive along them. Yesterday, military bulldozers dug deep ditches across all three roads, and now no kind of vehicle can get across. This morning, my colleagues and I drove in my car up to the ditch dug across the Bir al-‘Eid road. I parked the car there and we walked to school, a distance of about two kilometers. It took us about half an hour. At the end of the school day, we took the same route back. It took longer, about 45 minutes, because we had to walk uphill and the path is rough. Until now, driving to school from Yatta used to take me 20 minutes. The roadblocks are making our lives very difficult, especially now that it’s cold and rainy. If this continues, I don’t see how I’ll be able to carry on teaching at the school. The village of Khirbet a-Taban in Masafer Yatta. Photo by Oren Ziv, Activestills, 30 Jan. 2013 The village of Khirbet al-Markez in Masafer Yata. Photo by Oren Ziv, Activestills, 30 Jan. 2013

4 February 2018

בית ששרפו מתנחלים בקהילת חי'רבת א-ספאיי א-תחתא בדרום הר חברון

Settler Violence = State Violence

Israel using Gaza war to forcibly transfer Palestinians from South Hebron Hills

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel has greatly increased its efforts to drive Palestinian shepherding communities out of their homes and land in the South Hebron Hills, including in the area designated Firing Zone 918. The communities are being subjected to unusually extreme violence on a daily level, carried out by settlers with state backing and military and police support. The attacks have been virtually incessant, with little relief. By night and by day, armed settlers have entered residents’ homes, assaulted them and overturned their belongings, taking away their mobile phones to prevent documentation. They have destroyed solar power systems and water containers, stolen livestock and in some communities, as in Khirbet Susiya, threatened to kill residents if they do not leave within a short period. For many years, Israel has sought to take control of this area by making the Palestinian residents’ lives so unbearable, they abandon their homes and land seemingly of their own accord. This strategy is two-pronged: officially, the authorities impose extreme restrictions on construction and development in these communities, and forbid them from hooking up to power and water grids; unofficially, settlers carry out systematic violence against the communities, driving shepherds away, restricting access to water sources and encroaching on pastureland. In May 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the state had the authority to declare much of the South Hebron Hills a firing zone and expel some 1,000 Palestinian residents, who have lived there for generations, long before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967. The court’s decision was given 22 years after the initial petition was filed. During that time, Israel put the residents’ lives on hold and prevented them from building homes and public structures or developing basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads. Since the court handed down its decision, and especially since the Netanyahu government was formed in early 2023, Israel has intensified both official and unofficial efforts. The military has added draconian measures to the existing restrictions on freedom of movement, set up new checkpoints, blocked roads with concrete cubes and dirt mounds, and confiscated vehicles from residents or people working in the area. It has also sent troops to train in the area, carrying out maneuvers that include live fire, very close to homes. Meanwhile, settlers have stepped up violent attacks aimed at damaging the residents’ livelihoods. The settlers’ attacks are carried out in the open, with state backing. The military is not only aware of them but often chooses not to intervene. Soldiers sometimes escort the settlers, providing them protection and at times even participating in the violence. Some of the settlers involved in these incidents have been enlisted for reserve military duty during the war, and are carrying them out as part of their military service. The police, as always, refrains from investigating the incidents and the harm caused to the residents, often threatening the Palestinian complainants instead. To date, the police has not arrested anyone responsible for the violent incidents, although some are well-known in the area and some incidents were documented. This reality is not new. It is a direct continuation of Israel's longstanding policy to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the area in order to gain control of the land for its own uses. Now, cynically exploiting the fact that public attention is focused on the war in Gaza, Israel has decided to escalate its efforts and appears to be succeeding. Since 7 October 2023, five communities in the South Hebron Hills have already been forcibly transferred: Khirbet a-Radhem, Khirbet Zanutah, ‘Enizan, ‘Atiriyah, and Maktal Msalam. In some cases, the residents fled without all their belongings, which were then looted and destroyed by settlers. These communities left behind their source of livelihood – pastureland and fields they cultivated to feed their livestock – in addition to wells and water cisterns that served the communities, agricultural equipment, tents, solar panels and mobile phones. The community of al-Widady was forcibly transferred before 7 October. Other area communities, including Khirbet Susiya, Maghayir al-‘Abid, al-Mufaqarah, a-Rakeez, Um al-Kheir, Sadet a-Tha’leh, Khirbet a-Tuba, Khirbet a-Safai al-Tahta, Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’, Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet Lasefar, Qawawis, and Khirbet Sarurah, are at risk of similar transfer. The Palestinians have no one left to defend them. Residents’ attempts at self-defense are met with more violence, arrests and even gunfire. The military and police are also trying to remove Israeli and international activists, who stay in the area to help the residents and have extensive documentation of the settlers’ actions In these circumstances, it seems only a matter of time before Israel succeeds in taking over the entire area. Apparently, it has abandoned any pretense of trying to protect Palestinian residents in the South Hebron Hills, and has decided to carry out the war crime of forcibly transferring them.

13 November 2023

תמונת אילוסטרציה: חיילים מכניסים עצירים פלסטינים למחנה הצבאי מצדות יהודה בדרום הר חברון, 5.8.22. למצולמים אין קשר לאירוע המדווח. צילום: איתי פייטלסון, 5.8.22

A Routine Founded on Violence

Israeli soldiers detain Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, at a checkpoint, mistreat them, and steal their money

On Friday, 18 August 2023, at around 11:30 P.M., cousins Mahmoud (18) and Yihya (16) a-Nawaj’ah arrived at the Meitar checkpoint. They were traveling in a car belonging to a Palestinian citizen of Israel. The two were on their way back from Israel to their home in the community of al-Jawaya, which lies southeast of the town of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. When they reached the checkpoint, Israeli soldiers had the driver and two passengers get out of the car and conducted body searches on them. The soldiers took their bags, cellphones, and a bracelet and ring Yihya was wearing. They also took 8,000 NIS (~2,100 USD) in cash, money the cousins had earned working and were carrying in their pockets. Next, the soldiers tied the hands of the three individuals behind their backs using plastic bags, covered their eyes with plastic bags, and placed them in a military jeep. When they asked where they were being taken, the soldiers told them they were going to the Beit Yatir checkpoint (a checkpoint near the Mezadot Yehuda military base). Once they arrived at the military base, the three were taken out of the jeep and seated on the ground. Throughout the night and until the following afternoon, the three remained on the ground, handcuffed and blindfolded. Even in the intense heat of the day, the soldiers denied them water, food and access to the bathroom. When they requested to sit in a more shaded area, the soldiers refused. They were also forbidden from contacting their families or a lawyer to inform them of their whereabouts. Later, the three were taken to a room in the military base where the plastic bags around their hands were replaced with zip ties – this time, in front of them – and the bags covering their eyes were replaced with cloth blindfolds. They were interrogated in Arabic and asked for their names, ages, how they entered Israel and what they were doing there. From there, they were taken to another military facility, where fingerprints were taken from all three while they remained handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers then separated the driver from Mahmoud and Yihya and later released him. Mahmoud and Yihya were put in a car and sat there for about half an hour. Then, after a short drive to the Beit ‘Einun roundabout on Route 60, which sits north of Hebron, the soldiers took them out of the car and told them that they were being released. Only after the two pleaded did the soldiers remove the handcuffs and blindfolds. They returned their cellphones and Yihya’s jewelry that had been taken during the arrest. When the cousins asked the soldiers about the money that was taken from them, the soldiers claimed it had been transferred to the police and then left. Mahmoud called his father, who came to pick them up and took them home after more than twenty hours without food or drink. The next day, Mahmoud and Yihya went to the Kiryat Arba police station to demand their money back, but the police officers referred them to the Border Police camp in the settlement of Telem. Upon arriving there, they were told to come back the next day. On 31 August 2023, the two contacted HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual to file a complaint on their behalf with the police demanding their money be returned. B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-‘Adrah collected testimonies from the two cousins. Mahmoud a-Nawaj’ah (18), a resident of a-Jawaya testified: Ever since I finished school, I’ve helped support my family. In June 2023, I started working in the town of ‘Araba, inside the Green Line. I didn’t have a work permit, so I crossed in illegally. After about a month, my 16-year-old cousin Yihya a-Nawaj’ah joined me. On 18 August 2023, we decided to go home and paid a Palestinian citizen of Israel to drive us. At around 11:30 P.M., we reached the Meitar checkpoint. The guard there stopped the car and asked to see IDs. The driver showed them his ID, and I told them I didn’t have mine with me. Yihya said he didn’t have one because he’s sixteen and hasn’t gotten one yet. The guard instructed us to get out of the car and asked the driver to park it in the lot next to the checkpoint. A few soldiers made us move away from the car, and another soldier searched the vehicle with an electronic device. Meanwhile, the soldiers told me to call my parents and ask them to send my ID number or a photo. I tried calling, but no one answered. Yihya, the driver and I got taken into a room at the checkpoint, where our photos were taken, and then our faces were identified. Afterward, we were taken to a small cell, got physically searched, and everything that was on us was taken: our cellphones, our bags with all our clothes, the 5,000 NIS (~1,300 USD) I made in all the months I’d worked, and 3,000 NIS (~780 USD) Yihya had made that was on him. Then our hands were tied behind our backs with plastic bags, and we were blindfolded with plastic bags too. All three of us were put in a black military jeep. I asked where they were taking us, and one of the soldiers said: “Mezadot Yehuda.” After about a ten-minute drive, at around 12:30 A.M., we were taken out of the vehicle and sat on the ground inside a military base. I could feel cars zooming by very close to us. It was really scary, and I was very worried about what would happen, especially since no one in our family knew we’d been detained. I asked the soldiers if I could try calling someone from my family again, but they refused. When we asked for water and food, they refused that too, didn’t give us anything, and ordered us to shut up and not talk to each other, either. We asked how much longer we’d stay on the floor like that, and one of the soldiers said we had a lot more time. We were there all night. The next morning, about an hour and a half after we heard the call to dawn prayer, it got very hot. We couldn’t take the heat of the sun anymore and asked the soldiers to move us somewhere with more shade, but they refused. Around noon, it had become completely unbearable, and we asked them again and again if we could move, but they said no each time. At some point, I managed to take the plastic bag off my eyes, but within seconds, soldiers came over to put it back on and yelled at me that I wasn’t allowed to take it off. We sat on the ground handcuffed and blindfolded for 15 hours straight. Then, the soldiers brought us into a room in the base. They took the plastic off our eyes and covered them again with cloth. They also tied our hands tightly with zip ties – this time in front. They sat us down on chairs. Suddenly, someone I hadn’t seen began talking to us. He said his name was Khaled, and he asked each of us questions in mediocre Arabic. He asked for my name, my age, where I worked and how I entered Israel. He asked Yihya and the driver the same questions. After that, the soldiers put us back in the jeep, drove for about forty minutes, took us out again, and brought us into a room again, where they took our fingerprints while we were still handcuffed and blindfolded. After that, they put me and Yihya in a civilian car. I don’t know where the soldiers took the driver. We waited in the car for about half an hour before it started moving. A while later, we got dropped off and told we could go. They hadn’t taken off our blindfolds or untied our hands. They only did it after we begged them, and then we realized we were at the Beit ‘Einun roundabout. One of the soldiers gave us back our cellphones. We asked about our money, and the soldier said it was with the police, and then the soldiers left. I managed to take a photo of their license plate. That was at about 5:30 or 6:00 P.M. I called my father, and he came to pick us up. We were exhausted. Later, I called the driver, and he told me he had been released and that his friends came to pick him up, but that the soldiers confiscated his car. The next day, Yihya and I went to the police station in Kiryat Arba to get our money back, but they said our case was being dealt with in the Telem base. We went there, and they told us to come back the next day. The following morning, the Kiryat Arba police called me, and the interpreter asked me to tell him what happened, and how much money it was. I told him and said I was planning on going to Telem the next day to pick up my money. He told me they’d be in touch, but that never happened. Yihya a-Nawaj’ah (16), from Yatta, said: I was looking for work over the summer in order to have some pocket money for my last year of high school. My cousin, Mahmoud a-Nawaj’ah, got me a job where he works near ‘Araba in Israel, and I started working there on 15 July 2023. The first day of school was 20 August 2023, and I wanted some time to prepare, so we both left work on 18 August 2023. We left at around 9:30 P.M. with a Palestinian citizen of Israel who drove us for a fee, and at around 11:30 P.M., when we arrived at the Meitar checkpoint, the guard there detained us when he saw Mahmoud and I didn’t have IDs on us. The guy who was driving us showed the guard his ID, and the guard told Mahmoud and me to get out and the driver to park in the lot next to the checkpoint. The two of us got out of the car, and two soldiers led us through the lot. Then three more soldiers came, and one of them searched the car with an electronic device. The soldiers demanded to see IDs again, but we said we didn’t have them. They took the three of us to a room at the checkpoint, took our pictures in there, and then did a body search inside a small booth. They took our cellphones, and from me, they also took a bracelet and ring I was wearing, and the 3,000 NIS (~780 USD) I had made at work. They took Mahmoud’s 5,000 NIS (~1,300 USD), too. Then, the soldiers tied our hands behind our backs and blindfolded us with plastic bags. After that, the soldiers put us in a jeep and after a 10-minute ride, we were taken out and sat on the ground inside a military base. It was scary because I couldn’t see anything, and I didn’t know what the soldiers were planning. I felt cars zooming right next to me. I asked the soldiers to go to the bathroom a few times, but they didn’t let me. They also didn’t give us water or food, and they forbade us from talking to each other. Mahmoud and I asked to call our family or a lawyer, but one of the soldiers kept saying the same word every time: “forbidden.” About an hour and a half after we heard the call to dawn prayer, when the sun was already up, we asked them to move us to the shade, but they refused. Around noon, we couldn’t stand the scorching heat anymore – we had been there for 15 hours straight – but they continued to refuse our request to move to a shadier spot. At some point, they moved all three of us to a room in the base and replaced the plastic blindfold with a cloth one and the plastic bags tying our hands with zip ties; they put them in front this time. One of the soldiers tied my hands really tight, and it hurt. Then, someone who said his name was Khaled asked the three of us some questions in mediocre Arabic. He asked how old we were, where we worked, and how we entered Israel. After that, they took the three of us out of the room and put us back in the jeep. After a forty-minute ride, we were brought into another room where they took our fingerprints – even though our hands were still tied and we still had blindfolds on. They then put just Mahmoud and me in a car, and we waited for about half an hour inside it. After a short ride, the soldiers dropped us off and told us we could go, but they didn’t take off the handcuffs and blindfolds. We asked them to take them off, but one of them said they weren’t allowed. We didn’t understand why he wanted to leave us like that in the middle of the road, so we persisted until, finally, one of them untied our hands and took off our blindfolds. I felt relieved. They also gave us back our phones, and they gave me my bracelet and ring. They didn’t return the money they took from us, and when we asked for it, the soldier told us that the police had it. After that, they drove off, and Mahmoud called his father, who came to pick us up. We were so hungry and tired, and we just wanted to sleep.

5 October 2023