Masafer Yatta – disruption of Palestinians’ life while the army is training

Place:

A-Tuwani

Masafer Yatta

ramadin

Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

South Hebron Hills

Tarqumiya

Tags:

Daily eviction

Observers:

Muhammad and Ariela (reporting and photographing); Translator: Natanya

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Jun-23-2022

Morning

מסאפר יטא - הצבא מתאמן והתושבים סגורים בבתיהם

Masafer Yatta - army maneuvers and Palestinians locked in their homes

Photo:

A guest of MW

South Hebron Hills

Photo:

Ariela Slonim

This time we decided to drive through the Negohot checkpoint. Two soldiers came out to us and asked where we were going. When we said we were on our way to Kiryat Arba we were not allowed to pass. The entrance to Kiryat Arba is forbidden through this checkpoint (for leftisits?) and we have to travel through Tarkumiya. There are new, stricter regulations, we were informed. I assume that these regulations apply only to us.

We turned around and drove to the Meitar checkpoint.

On the way, Muhammad received a phone call from Jimba. A curfew was imposed on them. The army put up a checkpoint at the entrance leading to the house and forbade them to leave their house. They can watch the merry-go-round exercise through the tent the army has set up in front of the house (a photo taken by Aziz).

We returned to the Meitar checkpoint. There we were not asked wherefore or way. The parking lot was full. We turned onto Road 358 in the direction of the settlement Tene Omarim.

On the way that passes through the Ramadin tribe, crops are harvested by hand, as if not a few hundred years have passed. Even the short road to Dahariya is still closed. Nothing has changed in the recent years here.

But Tene Omarim a big change! The new neighborhood was completed and I think it was completely inhabited. A few more houses are nearing completion and will surely be inhabited soon.

According to Wikipedia, Tene Omarim is a settlement and community settlement in the southern Hebron Mountains, belonging to the Mount Hebron Regional Council established in 1984. The locality has about 200 families and includes secular and religious. The site of the settlement states that Tene Omarim is a community settlement in the Yatir region of the Negev, where secular, religious and traditionalists live in harmony….

Nothing is said or thought about the Palestine neighbors. This is how they advertise themselves plus the fact that they have a 7% income tax rebate. Nothing about occupied territory. The settlement is part of the Negev and is immersed entirely in greenery with an amazing view. (I have no argument about that).

We left Tene Omarim on the way to the Eshkolot. A settlement built on Palestinian land, but in order not to be in Palestinian territory, the separation wall surrounds the settlement so that it will be in Israeli territory. The water tower of Eshkolot can be seen through the wall and the barbed wire fences.

On the way back to the Meitar checkpoint, you can see how full the parking lot is on the Palestinian side. Muhammad's sharp eyes also spotted two buses in the parking lot, indicating a visit by families of prisoners. According to Muhammad, another terminal is now being built at the crossing, perhaps due to the congestion that has arisen due to the closure info-icon of loopholes in the fence and perhaps also due to the issuance of more work permits

On the way Nasser from At-Tuwani called Muhammad and said that they had built a protest tent against the military exercise in Khalet al-Daba’. The DCO ordered them to demolish the tent, but as we spoke, they had not yet demolished the tent.

When will this horror end?

Location Description

Ramadin

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Ramadin and Arab al-Furijat, were established in the suburbs of Dahariya by Bedouins who came from the Be'er Sheva area after 1948. The village of Ramadin, numbers about 6,000 people, is located on the eastern side of the separation barrier. The checkpoint that was established at the entrance to the village (crossing by list only) to prevent passage to Israeli territory was removed in October 2007, and the road to the Meitar checkpoint leading to Israel is open.

Tarqumiya

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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases.

MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’.

updated November 2019

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

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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

רהווה - ככה חיה משפחת אבו שארח' ברהווה בוואדי למרגלות ההתנחלות טנא עומרים

Apr-25-2024

Michal Tsadik

Rahwa - this is how the Abu Sharakh family lives in the Wadi at the foot of the Tene Omarim settlement

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Meitar

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Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

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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

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-25-2024

Michal Tsadik

Rahwa - this is how the Abu Sharakh family lives in the Wadi at the foot of the Tene Omarim settlement

View the full album