Conflict zone: Palestinians live with uncertainty

Tania Kraemer

Uncertainty overshadows Masafer Yatta, a semi-desert region in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is home to several Palestinian hamlets. In May 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court issued a final ruling that could lead to the eviction of approximately 1,000 Palestinian residents who live in the rural area, which is also known as Firing Zone 918 — an Israeli army training ground.

In recent weeks, local media, residents and Israeli human rights groups have reported on imminent evictions in Masafer Yatta.

“Every day, they put more and more pressure on us with checkpoints here and there. Basically, they want us to leave,” said 35-year-old Jaber Dababseh, a Palestinian resident from the village of Khallet Athaba.

The father of five, who has been living with the threat of eviction for many years, added that he would never leave the area in the South Hebron Hills that he calls home.

The legal battle over Masafer Yatta has been ongoing for over 20 years — in Israeli courts and on the ground. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military body that administers civil affairs in the area, has not commented on any such imminent plans. However, in a statement given to DW in January, it said that the “firing zone 918 is defined as a closed military area and serves for the training of IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers. Accordingly, it is a criminal offense and a danger to human life to enter there without official IDF approval.”

The Israeli military has carried out a number of demolitions in the area in recent years. Last November, for example, the military tore down a small primary school not long after it had been erected. The single-story structure in Khirbet a-Safai al-Foqa, which was built with the help of donations, was used by around20 schoolchildren from nearby communities.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories subsequently released a statement saying it had “carried out enforcement steps against a structure that was built illegally in Firing Zone 918 in the South Hebron Hills,” adding that “entry into it without a permit constitutes a violation of the law and endangers human life.”

Soon after the demolition, villagers erected a makeshift tent over the debris. When DW visited in late November 2022, Palestinian first graders were learning the English alphabet in one corner of the tent. On the other side, Ashraf Shreteh was teaching math to three eager students perched over two tables.

“We were very optimistic when we established this school.There is no choice but to rebuild it, but the mood here is pessimistic at times,” he told DW.

“We just want our kids to have a normal life, we want them to work hard, to study well and we want them to be the best,” the head of the school, Issa Mahamreh, told DW in November. Just a few weeks later, the makeshift tent serving as the school was also destroyed.

Masafer Yatta is located in the so-called Area C, which makes up more than 60% of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is under full Israeli control. Most houses in the area, where winters are cold and summers are very hot, are simple structures with corrugated roofs and adjoining pens for livestock.

The Palestinian families, many of whom earn a living from traditional agriculture and from sheep and goat herding, have said they were living in the area long before Israel occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War of 1967.

This article was provided by Deutsche Welle