17 March 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta
Last night, illegal settlers burned a family car in Um Dhorit, in Masafer Yatta. They snuck onto the family’s land and set fire to the family only car in an attempt to make it irreparable. On previous occasions, the settlers have stolen the license plates, slashed all the tyres, ripped out engine components, smashed all the glass and mirrors and destroyed the interior. This car was in working order before the 7th of October.
In the recent months following the 7th of October and the subsequent spike in settler violence in the West Bank, multiple members of this family have been arrested and held in administrative dentition where they were subject to physical abuse and starvation over false accusations of stone-throwing. The house has been persistently raided and attacked by the occupation army and settlers during the day and at night.
Settlers have entered the property on multiple occasions and proceeded to trash the family home, cutting electrics and breaking water pipes and water butts, destroying the vegetable garden and fruit trees and poured petrol into wells.
Settlers attempt to make life here impossible, hoping to force the Palestinians to leave: cutting off all water sources is a common tactic used by the settlers.
The family live isolated at the edge of the firing zone 918 within the Masafer Yatta region, surrounded by settlements and outposts and is at constant risk of attack and forcible displacement. Despite the army and settlers’ efforts to remove them from their land, still they stay strong and hope to remain.
