Masafer Yatta

A child stands among the ruins of a house that was demolished in Al-Mirkez, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, May 11, 2022. (Rachel Shor)

Armed with High Court expulsion order, Israel’s bulldozers arrive in Masafer Yatta

The Israeli army carried out the first demolitions in the area since last week’s court ruling, triggering fears of a mass deportation not seen in two decades.

By Yuval Abraham and Basil al-Adraa May 12, 2022

Residents of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran awaiting the Supreme Court's decision on their village's fate, Jerusalem, November 20, 2013. (Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)

Only Palestinians can decide whether to boycott the occupier’s court

With Israel's Supreme Court greenlighting the forced expulsion of Masafer Yatta, the question of whether to 'legitimize' the courts has arisen again.

By Michael Sfard May 10, 2022

Ali Awad, 23, in his village of Tuba, South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank. (Emily Glick)

In Masafer Yatta, activism is not a choice but a necessity

I was only a toddler when my family was expelled from our village in the South Hebron Hills. Now I’m campaigning to stop it from happening again.

By Ali Awad and Emily Glick April 21, 2022

Latest

Palestinians inspect the ruins of a Palestinian house that was demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank city of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, on January 29, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

What Israel also destroys when it demolishes a child’s home

Children in the South Hebron Hills face a recurring trauma: the state's destruction of their homes, and of the security a home is supposed to bring.

By Hamdan Mohammed Al-Huraini March 15, 2022

Israeli forces conducting a training drill near and inside villages in the Masafer Yatta area, West Bank, February 3, 2021. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Israel’s top court will decide whether to expel 1,300 of my neighbors

For 22 years, I watched as Israel tried to slowly break up Masafer Yatta. Now, the fate of eight of our Palestinian villages hangs on a final court hearing.

By Basil al-Adraa March 14, 2022

A Palestinian woman next to demolished home after they were torn down by Israeli bulldozers in the village of Khirbet al-Halawah, in Firing Zone 918, South Hebron, Hills, West Bank, February 3, 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

Explainer: The threat of mass expulsion in Masafer Yatta

Israel's top court could displace over 1,000 Palestinians caught in a military 'firing zone.' Here's what you need to know before the final March 15 hearing.

By +972 Magazine March 14, 2022

Chicken inside a chicken barn at the Givat Olam organic farm, near the Jewish settlement of Itamar, West Bank, April 9, 2012. (Nati Shohat/Flas90)

When an Israeli chicken farm has more rights than a Palestinian village

From expropriating our land to poisoning our agriculture, settlement farms serve Israel's goal of forcing us out of our homes in the South Hebron Hills.

By Ali Awad and Awdah Hathaleen March 10, 2022

Israeli forces demolish a home in the village of Khalet al-Daba, South Hebron Hills, August 11, 2021.

A broken ankle, a demolished home, and a crushed water cistern

In one day last summer, three Palestinian brothers in the South Hebron Hills paid the price for Israeli forces’ entry into their village.

By Ali Awad February 15, 2022

Palestinian school children play in front of their school which faces the threat of demolition, in the village of Jubbet ad-Dib near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, November 18, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Schools for Sumud: How Palestinians are resisting Israel’s war on education

As Israel demolishes Palestinian schools in the occupied West Bank, a new project aims to protect Palestinian children's right to education.

By Basil al-Adraa January 31, 2022

Haj Suleiman Hathaleen protesting in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank. (Emily Glick)

Israeli police shattered this Palestinian elder’s bones — and drove away

An elderly Palestinian activist is clinging to life after an Israeli police tow truck ran him over. Such violence could befall any of us in Masafer Yatta.

By Ali Awad and Awdah Hathaleen January 11, 2022

Yasmin Eran-Vardy, Yaheli Chilik, and Matan Kadish, the three Israeli activists arrested in the South Hebron Hills on December 1, are brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, December 2, 2021. (Oren Ziv)

Police escalate clampdown on anti-occupation activists in the South Hebron Hills

An altercation between a settler and Palestinians leads to a police raid on a Palestinian home and the summoning of three Israeli activists for questioning. Overnight they were turned into criminals.

By Oren Ziv December 2, 2021

Israeli settlers assaulting Palestinian residents and solidarity activists during an attack on an olive harvest in the town of Surif, South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank, Nov. 12, 2021. (Shay Kendler)

The soldiers got into their jeeps — and left us with a settler militia

I was in Khallet a-Daba' when Israeli settlers launched a horrific attack armed with guns and batons, after the area was closed off as a 'military zone.'

By Basil al-Adraa November 15, 2021