Tag: South Hebron Hills - Page 12 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli forces seize a tractor, its truck, four water tanks, and three bases from Susiya village

22nd November 2014 | Operation Dove | Susiya, Occupied Palestine

On November 20th, the Israeli forces seized a tractor, its truck, four water tanks and three tanks’ bases from the Palestinian village of Susiya.

In the early morning DCO [District Coordination Office] officers approached the Palestinian village to take pictures of the ongoing works to install four new water tanks. In the early afternoon DCO officers returned with Israeli army, police, two trucks, one of which was equipped with a mechanical arm.

The tractor and its truck, that carried water cisterns and their bases, were seized with the accusation of being used for illegal works, since Palestinians didn’t have permissions to install new water tanks. Tanks and bases were seized without any previous issued demolition order under the pretext that they were not yet installed on the ground.

Water tanks were geared of filters to provide drinkable water and were donated to the Palestinian village because of the lack of drinkable water that effects all the South Hebron Hills area.

The Palestinian village of Susiya is located in Area C, under Israeli military and civil administration, and it is surrounded by the Israeli settlement of Suseya, the outpost of Suseya’s Ancient Synagogue and the military base of Suseya North. Around the settlement and the military base there are 26 wells and water cisterns that Palestinians are forbidden to use even if they are on Palestinian private proprieties. Even more, the CO doesn’t allow Palestinian residents of Susiya to connect to Israeli Makorot Company’s water pipes that run right through the Palestinian village and bring water from the settlement of Suseya to the outpost of the Ancient Synagogue.

Palestinian residents of Susiya pay 35 NIS per cubic meter of tanked water, six times more than the nearby settlement, which is served by the network, and Palestinian residents spend up to 1/3 of their income on water. Water consumption of Palestinians in Susiya is 28 liters/capita/day, significantly less than the 70 l/c/d consumed by an average Palestinian and well below the World Health Organization standard of 100 l/c/d. (source OCHA OPT)

The Palestinian inhabitants of Susiya are struggling through non-violent popular resistance in order to gain the right to access their own lands and to live a dignified life.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Israeli military demolishes a Bedouin village in the South Hebron Hills

28th October | Operation Dove | Um Al Kheir, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Israeli forces demolished a total of seven structures in the Bedouin village of Um al Kheir. The structures demolished are, three houses made of concrete, a caravan donated by the United Nations (United Nations Human Rights Response Fund with the support of Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom) to be used as a home, a tinplated house, a tinplated kitchen, and a traditional oven.

The structures belonged to five families, with a total of thirty people affected. An Israeli activist and an international volunteer were brought and detained in Kiryat Arba Israeli police station.

At 9:20 am a convoy of eleven Israeli army vehicles and two bulldozers reached the Bedouin village of Um Al Kheir. At 9:34 the bulldozers started the demolitions while Israeli soldiers, border police officers and DCO [District Coordination] officers kept Internationals and Israeli activists away from the village, declaring it a, “closed military area”.

Around 10 am the Israeli police arrested an international volunteer and an Israeli activist with the accusation of remaining inside the area. Both were released during the same day.

Um Al Kheir is a Bedouin village in Area C, under Israeli civil and military administration. It’s located very close to the illegal settlement of Karmel, established during the beginning of the ’80s and expanded in the recent years, especially in 2013. The village routinely experiences harassment from Zionist settlers and the Israeli army.

Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills keep struggling in a non-violent way to claim justice and to defend their human rights. The South Hebron Hills Popular Committee, together with international volunteers and Israeli activists, will soon gather to re-build the demolished structures in Um Al Kheir.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Palestinians dismantle illegal settler outpost

12th October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Susiya, Occupied Palestine

Today Palestinians and international activists participated in a Palestinian village community action which involved reaching an area of their land which has been declared a closed military zone. The action also consisted of dismantling a new illegal settlement outpost built by settlers. Over the past month the settler outpost has been dismantled by the Palestinians and rebuilt by settlers three times.

According to Palestinians living in the area, Israeli forces have permanently stationed a military jeep in this area to survey and protect the illegal settler outpost. The illegal outpost is right next to a water well which the Palestinians rely on for daily use and livestock. Each time the Palestinians go near this piece of land the area is declared a closed military zone by Israeli forces and the Palestinians have been prevented from reaching it many times in the past.

Palestinians from the local community and international activists successfully and peacefully dismantled the outpost. A Palestinian child also removed an Israeli flag from a military outpost nearby. Settlers were present in small numbers watching and shouting at the Palestinians and activists. After a short time, the Israeli armed forces forced the Palestinians and international activists to leave the area, declaring it a closed military zone.

Israeli settlers attacked internationals and a Palestinian shepherd

15th September | Operation Dove | At Tuwani

On September 14th, two Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd and two international near the Israeli outpost of Mitzpe Yair, in the South Hebron Hills area. During the aggression, the settlers stole video cameras from the internationals and broke one of their phones. Israeli police detained the Palestinian shepherd and one of the internationals for six hours. There were no consequences for the settlers.

At about 9:00 a.m. four Palestinian shepherds from the South Hebron Hills village of Qawawis were grazing their flocks accompanied by two internationals, on Palestinian owned land nearby the Israeli outpost. Two settlers from Mitzpe Yair crossed a closed area (where the access is forbidden to everyone else) in order to attack one Palestinian shepherd, starting to chase away his flock. The two internationals present taped the scene.

Afterwards the settlers assaulted the internationals: at first they grabbed one by the neck and knocked him down, they snatched his camera and broke his phone; subsequently the settlers attacked the other one twisting her arm and also seizing her camera. The settlers ran back to the outpost holding the stolen cameras, and the Palestinian and the internationals went to Qawawis village.

The Israeli police came to the Palestinian village and asked the shepherd and internationals to follow them to the Israeli Police station in Kiryat Arba settlement, due to one settler claiming that they threw stones at him. The Police officers detained both of them for six hours and questioned them about the incident. Israeli police released them at 5:00 p.m. without consequences.

The South Hebron hills area has suffered from the presence of Israeli settlers’ since the 70’s. Eight Israeli settlements and outposts (among which Mitzpe Yair is one) almost completely isolate 16 Palestinian villages from the rest of West Bank. The settlers’ violence includes overt violent attacks on Palestinians and their animals, damages to private properties, and limitations to freedom of movement with many consequences on their daily life. Since the beginning of 2014, Operation Dove registered the arrests of 15 Palestinians, included minors, because they were on lands near the settlements. During the same period there were no consequences for Israeli settlers involved in the incidents occurring in the area.

In spite of the violence suffered by the Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills area, they keep on grazing and farming on their lands, resisting in a non-violent way to the Israeli occupation.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

Shepherds detained for crossing a road

26th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Qawawis, Occupied Palestine

While shepherding approximately 1 km south of Qawawis, a village south of al-Khalil (Hebron), on Sunday 24^th near the illegal settlement and army base of Suseya, three shepherds were stopped by the Israeli army and detained for 20 minutes.

The three shepherds were just on their way back from grazing their sheep in the fields outside of the village when the Israeli army arrived in a jeep, stopping the shepherds who were attempting to cross the street. After shortly talking to one of the shepherds, the soldiers drove the sheep down the hill without any explanation.

As the sheep began to run away, one of the shepherds asked to look for them, but was refused by one of the soldiers. The soldiers accused them of passing over into land prohibited for Palestinians. It is an open area with no sign marking any borders.

One of the soldiers claimed to have explained to the shepherds where the border of the ‘prohibited’ land was located in the morning, however ISM volunteers accompanied the shepherds in the morning and know that this did not happen.

After being detained for roughly 20 minutes and their documents checked, the soldiers threatened to arrest them the next time they are seen “trespassing”.

Afterwards the shepherds were allowed to collect their sheep and continue their way home.

Qawawis is located in a “Firing Zone”, surrounded by a growing number of expanding illegal settlements and illegal outposts. For most of the families living there, the income depends on shepherding. The shepherds report that they are regular harassed and attacked by both the Israeli army and settlers from nearby illegal settlements.