On 15 May 2014, Israeli courts extended the mediation process between the Israeli army and the villages within Firing Zone 918 for another three months. The Israeli army wants to use this area for training. Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights organizations have condemned its bid to expel the villagers a violation of international law, which forbids forced transfer of the indigenous population of an occupied territory unless the occupying power is safeguarding them from an immediate danger.
During the previous period of mediation, the court allowed rehabilitation of damage done by storms, as well as access to the area by international humanitarian organizations. As a result, some development was possible in the area, specifically to the schools in al-Fakheit and Jinba. At the same time, as revealed in an article published on Ha’aretz, army officials admitted using firing zones as a way to deter the growth of Palestinian communities in Area C and to expel Palestinians from where they have lived since before the occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
Since 8 June, the Israeli military has conducted exercises in close proximity to, and on one occasion, inside the village of Jinba. Some weeks before, the army drove armoured vehicles over Palestinian fields close to Jinba and Mirkez, damaging their harvest.
Residents of Jinba told CPT that they received a “solution” to the current legal battle from the Israeli army via their lawyers at the beginning of June. The army asked that all of the Palestinian residents voluntarily leave the area for thirty months so that the Israeli military could conduct its exercises. After that, the Palestinians could return to their homes. The villagers refused the offer, affirming they would not have anywhere to go with all their livestock. Even if the army allowed them back, no one would care for their crops and flocks for that thirty months.
The army is not asking Israeli settlers in the area to leave Firing Zone 918.
19th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Mirkez, Occupied Palestine
On the 16th of July, Omar Jabril, 28, was pasturing his sheep in the surroundings of Mirkez, in the middle of firing zone 918, when three settlers assaulted him, injuring him severely. Some villagers witnessed broken teeth and a large amount of blood on the victim. Israeli soldiers finally intervened, stopping the settlers and bringing Omar back to his village. Neighbors underline the fact that the assault happened during Ramadan, a period of increased vulnerability for the Palestinians, who fast through the whole day. The Israeli occupation forces left to the comumnity the responsibility of bringing him to the Khalil hospital. The victim’s family doesn’t believe in the usefulness of filing a complaint to the Israeli authorities.
According to a neighboring family, if the army hadn’t come to rescue him the shepherd would be probably dead by now. It is important though to note that the soldiers came from the same outpost than the settlers. The International Solidarity Movement heard yesterday that Omar Jabril is now resting in Yatta.
Mirkez is located in the South Hebron Hills, in a zone declared a “closed military area” by the Israeli army. This part of Massafer Yatta is also an Israeli natural reserve. Around 1000 Palestinians are still living in there, facing continuous harrassment from settlers and military trainings on their land.
Blocks marking the start of “Firing Zone 918” (Photo by Activestills)
On 16th November 1999 the Israeli military forcibly removed over 700 cave dwellers, eighty-three families, from their caves in the South Hebron Hills, because the Israeli family said they needed the area for a military firing range (designated as a closed military zone for training, or “firing zone 918”). The soldiers confiscated and put the belongings of the Palestinians into military vans. They demolished scores of caves, cave entrances, and wells. Flocks of sheep were scattered. The people and their flocks had to spend the cold winter away from their caves. The people resisted by going to the Israeli High Court. On 29th March 2000 the villages won a partial, temporary victory, when the Israeli High Court ruled that residents who had signed on to the lawsuit in the Israeli High Court could return to their cave homes and land, pending a decision of the case. Finally the High Court decided that all residents could return. (In: Arthur G. Gish: At-Tuwani Journal: Hope & Nonviolent Action in a Palestinian Village, Herald Press, 2008)
For more information on firing zone 918 see also here. Sign a petition calling for abolishing the firing zone here.
23 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Massafer Yatta, Occupied Palestine
On Monday 21st January over 100 soldiers from the Israeli army held training exercises in the firing zone 918 in Massafer Yatta, also known as South Hebron Hills. The exercises continued throughout the day on Tuesday 22nd January. The Israeli military set up tented encampments near to two Palestinian villages, Mirkez and Jinba. Live fire could be heard in the area until late on Monday evening and on Tuesday.
Israeli occupation forces erected a large tent midway between the army base camp and Jinba. Another large tent was erected in the valley between Jinba and Mirkez, also several groups of soldiers of around ten, camped near the two villages in small tents or ‘bivvi bags’. These camps, some of them less than 50 metres away, surrounded the village of Mirkez, other camps were in front of Jinba and on the hill towards Hallawi. A large military truck was parked on the road near to Mirkez and jeeps and humvees drove around the area. Soldiers constantly walked from one camp to another over the fields where crops have been planted for sheep to graze.
Residents in Mirkez complained about interference from the soldiers when taking their sheep out to graze, being told they could not bring their sheep close to the soldiers. One resident of Mirkez said soldiers had thrown stones at their sheep hitting three of them, he also complained of being a prisoner in his own village unable to move freely. Residents of Jinba expressed similar sentiments saying there were soldiers camped in front of the village and settlements behind.
On Monday afternoon international volunteers talked to an officer at the camp between Jinba and the army base. When asked what the army was doing, the officer said the soldiers were being trained in how to deal with the cold conditions and that they would be there for a week. The officer went on to say they would not enter the villages and the actions of the army were nothing to do with the Palestinians. The international volunteers said the residents were worried by how close the camps were to the villages, especially Mirkez. The officer said that they were thinking of moving one of the camps for this reason. On Tuesday, the only discernible difference was the army truck had moved from the road near Mirkez but soldiers were still camped in the same place where the truck had been.
The presence of the Israeli army holding these exercises in the firing zone 918 is causing worry and distress to the Palestinians living there, as well as disruption to daily life. On Monday afternoon around 15 people were standing in the fields by a fire in front of Jinba concerned for the village and their families. At least one person from the village did not go into work in Yatta on Tuesday in order to protect his loved ones and livestock. The people of Jinba and Mirkez are unable to access and work their lands during such exercises. The sound of live gunfire throughout the day causes anxiety and at night disturbs sleep. The gunfire lasted until after 10 pm on Monday night.
Background
The so called firing zone 918 is an area of 30000 dunams in Massafer Yatta (also known as South Hebron Hills). Declaring it a “closed military zone”, the Israeli army uses the area for the training of its soldiers. There are 12 Palestinian villages within the area and around 1000 Palestinian inhabitants. Currently eight villages are under the threat of eviction. There has been ongoing harassment of the Palestinian residents of the area.
On 16th November 1999 the Israeli military forcibly removed over 700 cave dwellers, eighty-three families, from their caves in the South Hebron Hills, because the Israeli family said they needed the area for a military firing range (designated as a closed military zone for training, or “firing zone 918”). The soldiers confiscated and put the belongings of the Palestinians into military vans. They demolished scores of caves, cave entrances, and wells. Flocks of sheep were scattered. The people and their flocks had to spend the cold winter away from their caves. The people resisted by going to the Israeli High Court. On 29th March 2000 the villages won a partial, temporary victory, when the Israeli High Court ruled that residents who had signed on to the lawsuit in the Israeli High Court could return to their cave homes and land, pending a decision of the case. Finally the High Court decided that all residents could return. (In: Arthur G. Gish: At-Tuwani Journal: Hope & Nonviolent Action in a Palestinian Village, Herald Press, 2008)
For more information on firing zone 918 see also here. Sign a petition calling for abolishing the firing zone here.
Soldiers exercising near Jinba and Mirkez villages
Soldiers near one of the villagesSoldiers near one of the villages
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
In the southern West Bank (oPt), in the South Hebron Hills, there exists an area called Masafer Yatta. The area encompasses some 1000 inhabitants and twelve Palestinian villages: Tuba, al-Mufaqarah, Isfey, Maghayir al Abeed, al-Majaz, at-Tabban, al-Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, Kharoubeh and Sarura. According to the Oslo Accord this is defined as Area C, under complete civil and military control of Israel. . However, already in the early 1970s. Israel declared the area as ‘Firing Zone 918’, a closed military zone.
In 1999 Israeli military forces, accompanied by Civil Administration officials, expelled the inhabitants living within Firing Zone 918, destroying Palestinian-owned private property in the process. The residents petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice, which issued a temporary injunction allowing people to return back to their homes and forbidding the state to expel them until a final decision in the matter was rendered. Notwithstanding, life for Palestinian communities in the area worsened because of settlement expansion in the area and ongoing settler violence. Moreover, Israel’s military and civil administrations carried out demolition orders and delivered stop working orders to area residents, preventing the construction of new houses and the renovation of existing ones.
In April 2012 the Israeli High Court resumed deliberations in the case. On 19 July 2012 the state, following instructions from the Ministry of Defense, submitted a detailed notification to the Court claiming the Petitioners are not “permanent residents” of the firing zone area and hence have no right to live there. On 7 August 2012 the High Court ruled that the state’s announcement constituted “a change in the normative situation” and consequently the specific petitions “were no longer relevant” and thus dismissed. A new petition was then submitted by Palestinian residents of the area and on 16 December the High Court of Justice will render a decision. If the Court rejects this new petition, residents of eight of the twelve villages in Firing Zone 918 will be evacuated and their homes and villages demolished.
Israel claimed that following the 2006 Lebanon War, its security needs increased and that troops now require additional ongoing training and more firing zones are needed, including Firing Zone 918 in the Masafer Yatta area.
However, this Israeli military requirement has no direct relation with the occupation because it refers to general army trainings; as such and according to international law, it is not a ‘military necessity. This means that the planned Israeli measures of eviction and demolition of eight villages within Firing Zone 918 would be unlawful; They are not permitted under the Hague Regulations and would constitute grave breaches of the IV Geneva Convention as according to international law, ‘military general training’ cannot for any reason be considered as a military need.
Moreover if a firing zone for general military trainings is established under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), in no case could expropriations and movement restrictions be justified in the twelve villages located within Firing Zone 918. According to Article 46 of the Hague Regulation, private property must be respected and cannot be confiscated, which includes the destruction of private property for establishment of a firing zone. Under these circumstances, Israel’s planned destruction of the villages with the purpose of using Firing Zone 918 would constitute a clear violation of the Article. 53 of the IV Geneva Convention and would amount to a grave breach according to Article 147. Finally, in the matter of prohibition of forcible transfer, IHL does not differentiate between permanent and non-permanent residents as the Israeli legislation does. Forcibly displacing any of the inhabitants or any community of the twelve villages (either for general military trainings or for their purported lack of building permits) is a violation of Article 49 of the IV Geneva Convention and constitutes another grave breach to Article 147. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since 1967 Israel has designated about 18% of the West Bank as a closed military zone for the purposes of military training (not including the closed military areas around Israeli settlements, all the lands located between the Separation Wall and the Green Line), rendering the areas effectively off limits for Palestinians.
Firing Zone 918 violates fundamental basic human rights. Its abolition would be a step toward promoting access by Palestinian inhabitants of the area to:
the right of a dignified life;
freedom of movement;
right to private property;
right to education;
right to work;
right to medical care;
freedom of worship.
Given these circumstances, we strongly demand:
Annulment of the Israeli Ministry of Defence decision to evacuate the area;
Abolition of the entire Firing Zone 918;
Respect for the rights and dignity of Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills.
Promoters
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
South Hebron Hills Popular Committee
Operation Dove – Nonviolent Peace Corps of Association “Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII”
ISM – International Solidarity Movement
CPT – Christian Peacemaker Teams
Ta’ayush
Alternative Information Center
Comet-ME
25 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
The residents of two villages in the Israeli firing zone 918 in the South Hebron Hills experienced a fearful Christmas day as the Israeli soldiers and a tank conducted firing exercises in close proximity to their homes.
From late afternoon on 25 December the villagers were shocked as an Israeli tank fired several practice shots near the villages of Mirkez and Jinba. Shortly afterwards around forty soldiers from the Israeli army fired blanks as they simulated a skirmish. The soldiers staged an attack on a hillside which lasted for around an hour, during which the sound of gunfire echoed around the hillside barely fifty metres away from Mirkez. One Jinba resident remarked that the Israeli army had not held training exercises this close to the villages in twelve years and the villagers shut their doors in fear of another night raid.
The soldiers stayed in the area into the early hours of the morning and sporadic bursts of fire could be seen and heard throughout the night. The Israeli tank fired two rounds late in the evening, the booming noise of the tank fire could be heard throughout the firing zone causing distress to the nearby communities.
Two international activists walking between the villages during the night were stopped by a soldier and were only allowed to pass once he realised they were not Palestinian.
Local and international groups working with the affected communities have started a campaign to raise awareness of the routine infringement of the villagers’ human rights and the harassment they receive from soldiers and settlers alike. Details and a petition to the Israeli government can be found here.
Jinba, South Hebron Hills
Backgound
The area was declared a ‘firing zone’ for military training in the 1970s. The villagers, many of which have lived in the area for generations, live with the constant threat of eviction and home demolition as well sporadic water shortages and violence from the illegal Israeli settlers surrounding the area.
Earlier this month Israeli soldiers entered Jinba during a nighttime excursion and forced a terrified family to leave their home and stand in the cold for two hours while they destroyed the door to another cave in the village for no apparent reason.
Also in early December Israeli forces demolished the mosque in al Mufaqara which they claim was built illegally despite the fact that the settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law, remain untouched.
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
