27 May 2025 – The Union for Justice Foundation
Southeast of Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank lies a Palestinian community comprising 12 villages and hamlets collectively known as “Masafer Yatta.” Situated on elevated terrain, this area is predominantly inhabited by people whose livelihoods center on animal husbandry and agriculture. Its proximity to ten Israeli settlements and military zones belonging to the Israeli army has placed it squarely in the Israeli line of fire.
This region is considered the second-largest residential cluster affiliated with the town of Yatta, extending over an area of 35,000 square kilometers and home to no fewer than 3,000 Palestinians, according to international statistics compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA).
Palestinians in this area live under difficult conditions; some reside in caves, tin structures, or tents due to their inability to obtain legal building permits. As a result, they are prohibited from repairing or expanding their homes. They also endure near-daily attacks by groups of settlers and Israeli occupation soldiers, aimed at pressuring them to leave their homes and lands.
Various Attacks, One Objective
These attacks vary and include assaults by settlers on citizens’ homes and agricultural properties, the installation of mobile homes and tents, theft of livestock, burning of crops, firing of live and rubber bullets, the use of tear gas, uprooting and cutting of fruit-bearing trees, as well as releasing dogs to attack shepherds and their flocks.
Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, settler groups have formed with the explicit purpose of stealing citizens’ property and livestock in the Masafer Yatta area. They have also been shooting at livestock or stoning them, and vandalizing citizens’ possessions to force them to leave their land for settlement expansion.
During the past month (April) and the current month (May), the Union for Justice Foundation documented 24 separate attacks carried out by settlers against residents in the cluster of “Masafer Yatta” villages, in addition to two demolition operations conducted by the occupation authorities.
- On 29 April, Israeli bulldozers demolished the home of citizen Hashem Ibrahim Al-Atmeen in the village of Al-Zuwaidin in Masafer Yatta. The house consisted of two floors, measured 340 square meters, and sheltered 13 people.
- On 5 May, the occupation’s bulldozers carried out a large-scale demolition in the village of Al-Dabaa in Masafer Yatta after preventing residents from removing their belongings. A total of 25 structures were demolished, including houses, water wells, caves, agricultural rooms, livestock pens, and solar panels, after forcibly evicting their inhabitants.
According to the Union for Justice Foundation, “Masafer Yatta” is one of 30 Bedouin communities in the West Bank where settler attacks and restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities have led to the displacement of part of the local population to other areas.
The Union for Justice Foundation notes that the occupation authorities deliberately impose a coercive environment designed to push Palestinian residents out of these communities. This encompasses assaults, threats, as well as deprivation of grazing lands, water sources, and services.
Humanitarian organizations and donor entities attempt to provide some aid to the population clusters in Masafer Yatta to meet their basic needs. However, the occupation authorities obstruct and prohibit these efforts by issuing demolition or “stop-work” orders, seizing vehicles and equipment, and imposing physical access restrictions on the land and on humanitarian personnel attempting to enter.
The Union for Justice Foundation affirms that the forced or indirectly coerced transfer of Palestinians through ongoing restrictions is prohibited under international humanitarian law and contravenes Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans the transfer of the occupying power’s own civilian population into the occupied territory.
The Foundation calls on the Israeli authorities to cease all coercive measures, including restrictions on freedom of movement, planned evictions and demolitions, and military training in residential areas.
A recent report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicated that settler violence over the past two years has become the primary factor behind the displacement of Palestinians from their homes in “Area C.” Previously, home demolitions for lack of building permits had been the main cause.
According to the same report, in 2023, 1,600 Palestinians were displaced from their homes due to settler violence, compared to 300 Palestinians displaced through home demolitions by the Civil Administration. In 2024, 620 Palestinians were displaced due to settler violence, compared to 370 displaced due to demolitions. Between 2020 and 2024, settler violence increased sevenfold.
Details of the Attacks Documented in Masafer Yatta During April and May 2025 as Documented by the Union for Justice
- 5 April 2025: Settlers release their livestock to graze on Palestinian agricultural crops in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, an area that repeatedly suffers incidents of settler violence such as well-poisoning and livestock theft.
- 7 April 2025: Settlers from “Karmeil” placed caravans and pitched a tent on land belonging to residents of Umm Khair in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, in an apparent attempt to seize it.
- 10 April 2025: Settlers assault a number of citizens and shepherds in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, causing injuries, bruises, and contusions to some of the victims.
- 13 April 2025: Settlers assaulted citizens in Khirbet al-Halaweh in Masafer Yatta, injuring two young girls, Majdoleen Hani Abu ‘Aram and Rahaf Mahmoud Abu ‘Aram, who sustained bruises and were transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital for treatment.
- 14 April 2025: Settlers bulldozed the agricultural land belonging to citizen Sa‘id Raba‘ al-‘Amour in the ar-Rakiz area of Masafer Yatta.
- 17 April 2025: A settler fires live ammunition at Haj Saeed Muhammad al-Amour (60 years old) while he was on his land in the al-Rakiz area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, injuring him in the foot.
- 18 April 2025: Settlers install water pipes and lines on the land of citizen Saeed al-Amour in Khirbet al-Rakiz of Masafer Yatta, after having shot him in the foot. In addition, they arrested his son Ilyas (15 years old).
- 25 April 2025: Settlers uproot several olive saplings and vandalize citizens’ property in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
- 28 April 2025: Settlers construct a settlement road and conduct extensive excavations on citizens’ land in the Wadi al-Aseerah area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, as part of the expansion of the “Avigayil” settlement built on citizens’ lands.
- 1 May 2025: Settlers damage a fence surrounding the land of citizen Hassan Ali Nawaj’ah in the village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and chase away shepherds in a systematic effort to displace residents from their lands for colonial expansion.
- 1 May 2025: Armed settlers attack shepherds in the Umm Nir area, near Susiya in Masafer Yatta, assault them physically, and attempt to steal some of the sheep belonging to citizen Ali al-Nawaj’ah.
- 2 May 2025: Settlers erect a fence around wide swaths of citizens’ land in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, preventing residents from accessing the area.
- 3 May 2025: Settlers graze their sheep on citizens’ farmlands in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, causing damage to agricultural crops.
- 4 May 2025: Settlers uproot approximately 30 olive and almond trees in Khirbet al-Rakiz in Masafer Yatta, belonging to citizen Ibrahim Ali Abu Aram.
- 9 May 2025: Settlers release their livestock to graze on agricultural crops in the al-Deerah area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
- 12 May 2025: Settlers attack a number of citizens in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, injuring an elderly individual who sustained wounds and bruises.
- 13 May 2025: Dozens of settlers assault shepherds in the village of al-Tuwani in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron. No injuries were reported.
- 13 May 2025: Settlers attack residents in Khirbet Khillet al-Daba’ in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, assaulting them with clubs and sharp instruments. This led to a deep head wound for citizen Suleiman Ali Dababseh, who was subsequently taken to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
- 15 May 2025: Settlers attack citizens’ vehicles and block the road leading to the Masafer Yatta area and the Bedouin outskirts south of Hebron using burning tires.
- 18 May 2025: Settlers destroy the power generators supplying Khirbet “Eqwaweis” in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
- 20 May 2025: A group of settlers raids the home of citizen Akram Sari Abu Subha in Khirbet al-Fakhit in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and assaults him and his wife, causing bruises and contusions.
- 20 May 2025: Settlers bulldoze dozens of dunums of land belonging to the Rabee’ and Amr families in Khirbet al-Rakiz in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, in preparation for seizing them. The occupation forces informed the landowners of their intention to take possession, having declared the land as belonging to the state.
- 23 May 2025: Settlers steal more than 30 head of sheep belonging to citizen Ashraf al-Amour from Khirbet al-Rakiz in Masafer Yatta.
- 25 May 2025: Settlers kidnap citizen Ibrahim al-Nawaj’ah in the Wadi Abu Ijheish area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, after assaulting him.
End
