In the southeastern part of Hebron district lies the rural  community of Yatta. It has a population of approximately 30,000 and is surrounded  by several small communities that depend mainly on agricultural and livestock  for living. As is the case with all Palestinian communities in the West Bank,  Yatta and the villages around it suffer from the presence of Israeli settlements in their vicinity.

Israeli colonization in the Yatta area started as early as  1981 and today there are four Israeli settlements (Beit Yattir, Karmel, Maon and  Susiya) next  to Yatta, with a total population of over 800 colonists.

 

 

 Table 1: The settlements next to Yatta.

Israeli Settlement	Establishment Date	Population in Dec. 98
Karmel	1981	233
Maon	1981	246
Susiya	1983	415
Beit Yattir (Mezadot Yehuda)	1983	404

 Source: Population of the Israeli Settlements on the West  Bank and Gaza Strip, Settlement Watch, Peace Now.

 

 In the last few months scores of families living between Yatta  and the Dead Sea have been evicted and their houses demolished. Israeli authorities  have evicted over ten families since September claiming that new military orders  closed off the areas in which they were living Click  here for more. The houses  however were demolished under the pretext of being built without permits. Journalists  trying to cover the incidents were denied entry and thus the reports were based  on personal accounts of what happened.

 

 

Ibrahim Abu Jundieh is one of those evicted Palestinians and  his case reveals the extent of Israeli violations. Ever since Israel occupied  the West Bank both the Israeli authorities as well as the colonists have harassed  him. On the 25th of June 1998, members of an American NGO called 'Christian  Peacemaker Team' helped Ibrahim harvest his 80-dunum land. However, that night  colonists went up to the piled harvest, which was estimated at over 50,000 Shekels  (around $13,000), and set it on fire. Ibrahim's agony did not stop there. On  the 16th of November 1999 the Israeli authorities, backed with eight  army jeeps, demolished his house and arrested Ibrahim for refusing to move to  another area.

 

Israeli authorities accuse him of living next to an Israeli  settlement, despite the fact that he has been living in that area years before the  settlement was established. The Israeli officers had claimed that he is residing in  a closed military area yet his house was 4 kilometers west of the closed area  (SEE MAP). While in jail, his family tried to stay next  to the house but chronic  harassment finally led them to seek refuge in the nearby village of Khirbet El  Thawani. Ibrahim was released a week later but was warned that if he goes back  to plough his land he would be jailed for a year and fined. Ibrahim protested  that he is forbidden from working his own land while colonists are left to roam  in and out of it unobstructed. Today, he and his family are refugees in Khirbet  El Thawani.). While in jail, his family tried to stay next  to the house but chronic  harassment finally led them to seek refuge in the nearby village of Khirbet El  Thawani. Ibrahim was released a week later but was warned that if he goes back  to plough his land he would be jailed for a year and fined. Ibrahim protested  that he is forbidden from working his own land while colonists are left to roam  in and out of it unobstructed. Today, he and his family are refugees in Khirbet  El Thawani.

 

Ibrahim is just one of many villagers that suffer from both  the Israeli authorities and the Jewish colonist. Some of the families that had  been threatened with expulsion in previous years were able to obtain court orders  prohibiting any forcible eviction. Yet, Israeli forces evicted those families  just the same; heedless of the court orders. Residents of the area believe that  Israel is determined to clear the southern and the eastern parts of the Hebron  district from any kind of Palestinian presence. Citing previous incidents in which  armed colonist killed 3 villagers, the villagers said they were afraid that colonist  would be given a free hand to terrorize them out of the area again. Just three  days before Ibrahim was evicted, five villagers were injured when colonists attacked  them with axes and sticks. Moussa Makhamre, a lawyer from Yatta who has been  following up Israeli violations in the area, asserts the villagers' anxieties  by noting that the transgressions have been gaining pace in the last couple of  years.

 

The Israeli activities (whether those of officials or of colonists)  seek to provide space for colonies to expand and grow. At the same time those  activities serve to make the lives of ordinary Palestinians more difficult in  an attempt to drive them out. Moreover, Israeli policy makers have long envisaged  annexing parts of the West Bank (notably the Jordan valley) in any peace settlement  with the Palestinians and house demolitions and evictions in areas south and east  of Hebron serve that purpose.

Israel's policy of house demolition and forcible eviction contradicts  the letter and spirit of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law.  The assault of Israeli governments on ordinary Palestinians and the fact that  they ignore the transgressions of colonist and do nothing about them makes the  prospect of a lasting and sustainable peace more and more bleak.

 

 

 

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem