South Hebron Hills

Ashes of beehives belonging to Youssef Al-Sarha, burned by an Israeli settler in Khirbet Widadi near Hebron, July 2023. (Imad Abu Hawash)

Even bees can’t escape Israeli settler violence

Settlers began encroaching on Palestinian land where a beekeeper had placed a colony of bees. They burned 20 hives — and forced the residents to flee.

By Imad Abu Hawash August 30, 2023

Palestinian woman using a water pipe in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, May 10, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

In hottest summer ever, Masafer Yatta sears from water apartheid

Across the West Bank, Palestinians and Israeli settlers have very different access to water resources — even when they live on the same hill.

By Basel Adra August 13, 2023

Qamar Elian, a Palestinian girl from the West Bank village of Umm Lasafa, in her home after an Israeli soldier kicked and broker her ankle while her family approached their private land. (Basil Adra)

She was walking toward her family’s land. A soldier broke her ankle

Qamar Aliyan, an 11-year-old Palestinian girl, was kicked by Israeli troops while settlers roamed on her family's property in Umm Lasafa.

By Basel Adra April 4, 2023

Latest

Illustrative photo of armed Israeli settlers during a protest of Palestinians in the South Hebron HIlls, June 10, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Armed settlers break into Palestinian family home under cover of darkness

Settlers from a nearby grazing outpost entered the home, turned it upside down, and demanded the family 'stop bringing leftists' to the area.

By Yuval Abraham March 22, 2023

Residents of Masafer Yatta load their belongings onto trucks during the expulsion of 1999. (Nasrin Elian/B'Tselem)

The photos that once helped save Masafer Yatta from expulsion

In 1999, images of Palestinian lives being upended generated enough pressure to enable families to return home. Now, they live in fear of the next expulsion.

By Basel Adra March 21, 2023

Cassandra Auren seen following a settler attack in the village of Tuba in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank, March 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

‘Who hits a 64-year-old woman with a bat?’

Cassandra Auren, an American peace activist, was visiting the Palestinian village of Tuba when settlers attacked her with a bat and fractured her skull.

By Yuval Abraham March 13, 2023

Harun Abu Aram in his village of Al-Rakeez in Masafer Yatta, West Bank. (Emily Glick)

The theft of Harun Abu Aram’s body, home, and life

Harun was born into, paralyzed, and killed by Israel's colonial system. The struggle to dismantle it begins in the cave where he spent his final years.

By Yuval Abraham February 16, 2023

Israeli settlers armed with a rifle and metal bars confront Palestinian farmers near the village of A-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank, September 13, 2022. (Screenshot from a video of the incident)

How Israeli media reported a ‘lynching’ that never happened

Armed Israeli settlers attacked a group of farmers, then told the media they were ambushed by 30 Palestinians. Here's what really happened.

By Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham September 15, 2022

WATCH: Women of Masafer Yatta tell their stories of resistance

As Israel carries out its expulsions in the West Bank region, Palestinian women talk about what it means to face a state that targets them as an 'enemy.'

By Social TV August 29, 2022

Palestinians and Jewish activists from Israel and abroad work to build the Sumud Freedom Camp’s main tent in the village of Sarura, whose residents were forced out in the 1980s and 1990s, South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank, May 19, 2017. (Activestills/Ahmad Al-Bazz)

Demolishing our community center won’t destroy our resistance

'Youth of Sumud' supports Palestinian steadfastness against the occupation in Masafer Yatta and across the West Bank. And that scares Israel.

By Sameeha Hureini August 24, 2022

Settlers, under the guise of Israeli security forces, hold a Tisha B'av prayer service in the middle of the Palestinian village of A-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, August 7, 2022. (Omri Eran-Vardi)

Why did the army shut down a Palestinian village? So settlers could pray in it

Israeli soldiers blocked all movement into and out of A-Tuwani except for settlers, while forcing Palestinian residents into their homes at gunpoint.

By Ali Awad August 17, 2022

Israeli authorities demolish a tent in the West Bank area of Masafer, near the city of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, on November 25, 2020. (Wissam Hashlamon/Flash90)

This Israeli forbids Palestinians from building. He lives in an illegal outpost

Meet the inspector who prevents Palestinians in Masafer Yatta from building on their land while living in a home Israel says was built illegally.

By Yuval Abraham July 28, 2022

Mahmoud Awad in his village of Tuba in Masafer Yatta, West Bank. (Emily Glick)

The scars that don’t heal in Masafer Yatta

Palestinians share the stories behind the physical scars inflicted by Israeli settlers and soldiers, of their struggles with survival and grief, and of relearning their bodies in the face of unending violence.

By Ali Awad and Emily Glick July 27, 2022