June 1, 2025, Palestine — On May 31, Israeli authorities arrested Swedish citizen Susanne Björk (48) and Irish citizen D. Murphy (70) – both based in the UK – from Khalet Al-Daba’a, in Masafer Yatta, located in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Björk will be deported tomorrow morning while Murphy is fighting the unjust deportation order and is facing time in jail. We demand action now.
On the morning of May 31, Israeli military arrived to Khalet Al-Daba’a and ordered activists to leave the village. As they complied, Israeli settlers in army uniform (reservists drafted after the beginning of the Gaza Genocide, October 2023) stopped the two activists and began harrassing them. Israeli police were called, arresting the two activists under the accusation that they were in a military area. The day before, May 30, an Israeli settler stole Björk’s phone while she documented human rights violations, and police was called to report the incident.
D. Murphy says: “When most governments all around the world are ignoring the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, ordinary people like me are answering the Palestinians’ call to come and be a witness to these events being carried out by the Zionist Israeli entity. It’s not about politics, it’s about justice and freedom for all people.”
Her son, Dale Ryan, states: ”I am writing this as my mother is being detained by the Israeli authorities. As far as I can see her only crime was observing crimes against Palestinian people. D has always had a strong sense of justice and I know she could not sit at home while she knew her friends in Masafer Yatta and all of Palestine were suffering unnecessarily. I am very proud of my mother for sticking up for the basic human rights of her friends and trying to raise awareness of the injustices the Palestinian people are experiencing. Of course I want her home safe with her family who love her, but I know a piece of her heart is in Palestine and she needs to be there, doing what she can.”
Last year, Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir created a special task force to rid the West Bank of activists claiming this is a response to states, including the USA, imposing sanctions against settlers. International activists are targeted with deportation for reporting settler violence they witness in the occupied West Bank to their governments and communities. In March, a US activist was deported after being arrested in Khalet Al-Daba’a and others were deported from Masafer Yatta last year.
Khalet Al-Daba’a, a village in Masafer Yatta under imminent threat of forced displacement, is located in the middle one of two roads leading through the remaining villages of Masafer Yatta. The 120 residents of the village have endured a shocking wave of violence and harassment in recent months. Between February and May the Israeli forces On February 10, Israeli forces demolished four homes, three residential caves, one tent, as well as internet, electricity and water systems. They returned two weeks later and destroyed six tents used as temporary housing. On March 1, Israeli occupation forces confiscated makeshift tents. On May 5, Israeli forces returned and destroyed roughly 90% of the village’s homes and infrastructure: around nine homes, six caves, several water tanks and toilets, animal barns, solar panels, water and electricity infrastructure. Three weeks after this devastating erasure, settlers went into the village, forced families out of their caves, brought livestock and established an outpost at the edge of the community. Since then, settlers have returned on a daily basis to harass families, in an attempt to forcibly expel the residents who are steadfastly remaining on their land. These crimes were carried out under the watch of Israeli forces.
In the 1980s, Israeli authorities designated a part of Masafer Yatta as ‘Firing Zone 918’, a closed military area. Since this declaration, residents have been at continuous risk of forced eviction, housing demolitions, and forcible transfer. Since October 7, Palestinians have faced escalating settler violence, aided and abetted by the Israeli army and police, aimed at accelerating the ethnic cleansing of the area. In the last months and years, villages have seen weekly demolitions and daily settlers’ attacks towards residents, property and basic infrastructure.
On May 22, the Israeli government announced plans to establish 22 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank – the largest expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in decades – defying the ICJ’s ruling that the occupation is illegal and settlements must end. Meanwhile, Palestinians face genocide, mass displacement, and escalating violence, while solidarity with Palestine is criminalized. Western nations continue to enable Israel’s colonization as Palestinian homes are destroyed and settlers intensify attacks under military protection.
Israeli authorities and the courts have refused to remove the settlers illegally staying in Khalet Al-Daba’a. Unless this is immediately stopped, the community might be forced to leave, as has happened in other places in the West Bank, most recently in Mughayer al-Deir. We ask the international community to act now, to stop the forced displacement, to bring justice for the Palestinians and to stop deporting activists struggling alongside families.
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