Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Israel using Gaza war to forcibly transfer Palestinians from South Hebron Hills
Settler Violence = State Violence
13 November 2023

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel has greatly increased its efforts to drive Palestinian shepherding communities out of their homes and land in the South Hebron Hills, including in the area designated Firing Zone 918. The communities are being subjected to unusually extreme violence on a daily level, carried out by settlers with state backing and military and police support.

The attacks have been virtually incessant, with little relief. By night and by day, armed settlers have entered residents’ homes, assaulted them and overturned their belongings, taking away their mobile phones to prevent documentation. They have destroyed solar power systems and water containers, stolen livestock and in some communities, as in Khirbet Susiya, threatened to kill residents if they do not leave within a short period.

For many years, Israel has sought to take control of this area by making the Palestinian residents’ lives so unbearable, they abandon their homes and land seemingly of their own accord. This strategy is two-pronged: officially, the authorities impose extreme restrictions on construction and development in these communities, and forbid them from hooking up to power and water grids; unofficially, settlers carry out systematic violence against the communities, driving shepherds away, restricting access to water sources and encroaching on pastureland.

In May 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the state had the authority to declare much of the South Hebron Hills a firing zone and expel some 1,000 Palestinian residents, who have lived there for generations, long before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967. The court’s decision was given 22 years after the initial petition was filed. During that time, Israel put the residents’ lives on hold and prevented them from building homes and public structures or developing basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads.

Since the court handed down its decision, and especially since the Netanyahu government was formed in early 2023, Israel has intensified both official and unofficial efforts. The military has added draconian measures to the existing restrictions on freedom of movement, set up new checkpoints, blocked roads with concrete cubes and dirt mounds, and confiscated vehicles from residents or people working in the area. It has also sent troops to train in the area, carrying out maneuvers that include live fire, very close to homes. Meanwhile, settlers have stepped up violent attacks aimed at damaging the residents’ livelihoods.

The settlers’ attacks are carried out in the open, with state backing. The military is not only aware of them but often chooses not to intervene. Soldiers sometimes escort the settlers, providing them protection and at times even participating in the violence. Some of the settlers involved in these incidents have been enlisted for reserve military duty during the war, and are carrying them out as part of their military service. The police, as always, refrains from investigating the incidents and the harm caused to the residents, often threatening the Palestinian complainants instead. To date, the police has not arrested anyone responsible for the violent incidents, although some are well-known in the area and some incidents were documented.

This reality is not new. It is a direct continuation of Israel's longstanding policy to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the area in order to gain control of the land for its own uses. Now, cynically exploiting the fact that public attention is focused on the war in Gaza, Israel has decided to escalate its efforts and appears to be succeeding.

Since 7 October 2023, five communities in the South Hebron Hills have already been forcibly transferred: Khirbet a-Radhem, Khirbet Zanutah, ‘Enizan, ‘Atiriyah, and Maktal Msalam. In some cases, the residents fled without all their belongings, which were then looted and destroyed by settlers. These communities left behind their source of livelihood – pastureland and fields they cultivated to feed their livestock – in addition to wells and water cisterns that served the communities, agricultural equipment, tents, solar panels and mobile phones. The community of al-Widady was forcibly transferred before 7 October. Other area communities, including Khirbet Susiya, Maghayir al-‘Abid, al-Mufaqarah, a-Rakeez, Um al-Kheir, Sadet a-Tha’leh, Khirbet a-Tuba, Khirbet a-Safai al-Tahta, Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’, Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet Lasefar, Qawawis, and Khirbet Sarurah, are at risk of similar transfer.

The Palestinians have no one left to defend them. Residents’ attempts at self-defense are met with more violence, arrests and even gunfire. The military and police are also trying to remove Israeli and international activists, who stay in the area to help the residents and have extensive documentation of the settlers’ actions In these circumstances, it seems only a matter of time before Israel succeeds in taking over the entire area. Apparently, it has abandoned any pretense of trying to protect Palestinian residents in the South Hebron Hills, and has decided to carry out the war crime of forcibly transferring them.

https://www.btselem.org/south_hebron_hills/20231113_israel_using_gaza_war_to_forcibly_transfer_palestinians_from_south_hebron_hills