Masafer Yatta

A burned children's toy following an Israeli settler pogrom in the Palestinian village of Tuba, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, August 6, 2026. (Mosab Shawer/Activestills)

‘Darkness, flames, screaming’: Palestinian village terrorized by Israeli settlers

A night-time pogrom by dozens of settlers left residents wounded, houses burned, and solar panels destroyed in the isolated West Bank village of Tuba.

By Basel Adra August 7, 2026

A mural of Awdah Hathaleen in the community center with added writings by friends and family. (Omri Eran Vardi)

A year after Awdah’s killing, Umm Al-Khair struggles for its own survival

The community is facing violent settler expansion and the looming threat of demolition, while the Israeli who shot the beloved activist remains free.

By Basel Adra July 29, 2026

A young Palestinian man looks through the broken window of his house after an attack by Israeli settlers the previous night in the village of At-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, southern occupied West Bank, July 19, 2026. (Mosab Shawer/Activestills)

What an Israeli settler pogrom feels like

For the first time in my life, I found myself completely helpless. My car was engulfed in flames, but all that mattered to me was my family's survival.

By Mohammad Hesham Huraini July 27, 2026

Latest

A Palestinian child reads her schoolbook in front of newly erected barbed wire fence bearing Israeli flags, which Israeli settlers put up to block the passage of Palestinian teachers and students from their homes in the village of Umm Al-Khair to their school, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, April 13, 2026. (Mosab Shawer/Activestills)

Despite global outrage, Israel is still blockading our children’s education

It’s been three weeks since settlers fenced off my students’ path to school, trying to show that Umm Al-Khair has no future. We refuse to let them win.

By Tariq Hathaleen May 5, 2026

Israeli soldiers arrest Palestinian shepherds in the village of Rujum ‘Ulya, Masafer Yatta, West Bank, March 25, 2026. (Basel Adra)

Brief, arbitrary abductions: A new tool of Israeli intimidation in Masafer Yatta

In recent months, soldiers have arrested dozens of West Bank Palestinians — many blindfolded, beaten, and then released without explanation.

By Basel Adra April 15, 2026

Palestinians mourn the deaths of three residents of Khirbet Abu Falah who were killed during an Israeli settler attack, occupied West Bank, March 8, 2026. (Avishay Mohar/Activestills)

Four dead in 24 hours: Israeli settler terror intensifies amid Iran war

Settler gunfire killed Palestinians in two West Bank villages as they tried to defend their land. In the aftermath, soldiers’ tear gas induced a cardiac arrest.

By Oren Ziv and Basel Adra March 9, 2026

Palestinians in the village of Qaryut mourn the killing of two residents who were shot dead by an Israeli settler, occupied West Bank, March 3, 2026. (Oren Ziv)

With West Bank under total Israeli closure, settlers are seizing the moment

Israeli settlers have killed two Palestinians and raided dozens of villages amid the war with Iran, as the army restricts movement and backs up the attackers.

By Oren Ziv and Basel Adra March 4, 2026

An activist helps extinguish a fire set during a settler attack in Al-Tuban, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, Jan. 27, 2026. (Roni Amir)

Inside a coordinated, multi-village settler-soldier pogrom in Masafer Yatta

As settlers set homes ablaze and looted livestock across three villages for over five hours, Israeli soldiers blocked ambulances, arrested victims, and even took part in beatings. This is how it unfolded.

By Basel Adra January 30, 2026

The Hureini family's guesthouse in the village of At-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, October 15, 2025. (Omri Eran-Vardi)

Israel is set to destroy our guesthouse. But Masafer Yatta still welcomes all who resist

My family has hosted hundreds of activists, journalists, and politicians in At-Tuwani. If this demolition proceeds, half of our West Bank village may be next.

By Mohammad Hureini November 25, 2025

Khalil Al-Hathalin, a representative of Umm Al-Khair’s residents, indicates on a map the area of the village threatened by Israeli demolition orders, in Umm Al-Khair, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, October 29, 2025. (Mosab Shawer/Activestills)

In Umm Al-Khair, erasure seems only a matter of time

With demolitions looming and settler violence escalating, our community faces a coordinated push to break our spirit and uproot us from our land.

By Tariq Hathaleen and Ahmed Hathaleen November 20, 2025

Israeli forces carry out demolitions in the Palestinian village of Khalet al-Daba, in Masafer Yatta, southern West Bank, May 5, 2025. (Mosab Shawer/Activestills)

In a West Bank ‘firing zone,’ Palestinians are erased as settlers lay down roots

While settlers' concrete mixers rumble under the Israeli army’s watch, Palestinian life in Masafer Yatta is being dismantled piece by piece.

By Basel Adra October 27, 2025

Wadha Abu Aram lies on the ground after a settler pepper‑sprayed her during an attack on her village of Qawawis, August 26, 2025. (Omri Eran Vardi)

‘They intended to kill us’: Masafer Yatta reels from bloody settler assaults

A series of pogroms in four West Bank villages left residents and solidarity activists hospitalized with head wounds, broken bones, and internal bleeding.

By Basel Adra and Mohammad Hesham Huraini September 26, 2025

Mourners at the gravesite of slain Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, including his cousins Alaa Hathaleen (left) and Tariq Hathaleen (right), in the West Bank village of Umm Al-Khair, Aug. 7, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

PHOTOS: Awdah Hathaleen laid to rest after Israel withheld body for 10 days

Israel finally allowed the burial of the Palestinian activist shot by a settler in Umm Al-Khair, only to disrupt his funeral with checkpoints and restrictions.

By Oren Ziv August 7, 2025