South Hebron Hills

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

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

Awdah Hathaleen and his eldest son, Watan, in Umm Al-Khair, the West Bank, March 2021. (Emily Glick)

Israel is holding Awdah Hathaleen’s body. His killer roams freely through his village

On hunger strike to demand his return, Umm Al-Khair's women can't even sleep undisturbed as the army detains the village's men in nightly raids.

By Sahar Vardi and Basel Adra August 5, 2025

Awdah Hathaleen celebrates his 27th birthday with friends, in Um Al-Khair, the West Bank. (Emily Glick)

‘The most peaceful person’: Umm Al-Khair mourns activist slain by Israeli settler

Contrary to the settler’s account, eyewitness testimony and analysis of video footage shows that Awdah Hathaleen was gunned down in cold blood.

By Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham and Oren Ziv July 29, 2025

Ahmad Nawajah holding the Oscar won by the film No Other Land, in Masafer Yatta, the occupied West Bank, March 25, 2025. (Courtesy of the family)

In Masafer Yatta, we need more than awards — we need protection

‘No Other Land’ exposed the world to our struggle. But as settlers and soldiers escalate their attacks after the Oscars, our existence hangs by a thread.

By Ahmad Nawajah April 8, 2025

Hamdan Ballal, left, and Rachel Szor, winners of the award for best documentary feature film for "No Other Land," attend the Governors Ball after the Oscars in Los Angeles, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Must the Palestinian have an Oscar for the world to care when he’s attacked?

We can't accept the rules of recognition set by the very powers that dispossess us, especially the idea that our success is what makes us worthy of protection.

By Sleman Altehe March 25, 2025

Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham pictured at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles after their film "No Other Land" won the Oscar for best documentary, March 2, 2025. (Jordan Strauss/AP)

Make no mistake: ‘No Other Land’ is a victory for the Palestinian struggle

While some have accused the Oscar-winning film of normalization, leaders and activists in Masafer Yatta are unwavering in their support for joint resistance.

By Samah Salaime March 7, 2025

Israeli army forces demolish Palestinian homes and property in She'ab al-Bottom in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, July 8, 2024. (Basel Adra/Activestills)

Our film is going to the Oscars. But here in Masafer Yatta, we’re still being erased

As the world watches ‘No Other Land,’ Israeli settlers are raiding and burning our villages while soldiers arrest us, abuse us, and demolish our homes.

By Basel Adra February 10, 2025

The ruins of a building destroyed by settlers in the displaced Palestinian village of Khalet Khader, occupied West Bank. (Oren Ziv)

The West Bank villages wiped off the map by Israeli settler violence

Since October 7, over 50 rural Palestinian communities have been forced to abandon their homes amid intensifying attacks, threats, and harassment by Israeli settlers — almost always with the backing of the army and police.

By Oren Ziv December 4, 2024