General Context: Overview
The villages of Al-Minya and Kisan, located within an area called by the Gush Etzion settlement Council (Gush Etzion-east) in the southeastern part of Bethlehem Governorate in the southern West Bank. It occupy a strategic location between the Israeli settlement bloc of Gush Etzion (west, along the 1949 Armistice Line) and the Dead Sea region. This geographic position has rendered them a prime target for Israeli settlement expansion plans that seek to establish a territorial range from Gush Etzion eastward to the shores of the Dead Sea. These plans encompass Al-Minya’s wilderness and areas classified by Israel as nature reserves and military firing zones.
Geopolitical Realities
- Eastern Settlements Bridgehead
The lands of Al-Minya and Kisan serve as a pivotal platform in the Israeli effort to extend the Gush Etzion settlement bloc eastward toward the Dead Sea. This is emphasized the significance presence of the settlement of Ma’ale Amos and the outpost of Abi Nahal near the two villages, along with the closed military zone “Firing Zone 912”, further tightening Israeli control over the area.
- Nature Reserves as Legal Pretexts
The two Palestinian villages are situated within vast surroundings (an excess of 167,000 Dunums) designated by Israel as nature reserves. Obviously, these classifications are intended to prevent Palestinian farmers and herders from accessing and using their lands. Eventually, these areas are often re-designated as “Biblical gardens,” tourism projects, or settlements and redirected to the jurisdiction of the settlement council of the region, an approach that constitutes a clear violation of international law.
- Settlement-Industrial Integration
Plans are underway to establish an Israeli industrial zone on lands belonging to the two villages. This aims to link existing settlements to a broader infrastructure network, including bypass roads, water, electricity, etc. around Gush Etzion.
- Threat of Forced Displacement of Palestinian Bedouin Communities
The lands targeted for settlement expansion extend to south and east of Al-Minya and Kisan, embracing Palestinian Bedouin communities, such as Arab al-Rashayida and al-Rawa’in, who face the threat of mass displacement. This is a consequent from rapid land confiscation measures under various legal pretenses “nature reserves,” “state land,” and others. Since 2009, Israel has claimed 139,000 Dunums near the Dead Sea and imposed severe restrictions on access to water, building, and movement.
Kisan Village – Location and Geopolitcal Divisions
Humanitarian and Political Impact of Settlement Practices
- Escalation of Settler Violence Post–October 2023
Following the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli settlers in the vicinity of Al-Minya and Kisan have exploited the political climate to escalate violence and pressure residents into leaving. Attacks have included: - Closing schools, depriving children of education; including the area’s only secondary school
- Burning and stealing crops and livestock
- Armed assaults on residents and arson attacks on homes and property
- Blocking Palestinian herders from pastures and confiscating agricultural equipment
- Uprooting olive trees in the al-Baqa’a area
These acts are carried out with the active protection of the Israeli military, which not only fails to intervene but also enforces settler actions by imposing military closures, blocking village entrances, and restricting movement to schools, healthcare centers, and workplaces.
- Systematic Isolation Policies
All access roads to Al-Minya and Kisan have been blocked with earth mounds and gates,
restricting residents’ movement and subjecting it to Israeli military control.
- Goods and agricultural workers are subjected to entry restrictions.
• Residents are intimidated with police dogs and surveillance drones.
• Nighttime construction of settler roads is ongoing, aiming to connect settlements and sever
Palestinian agricultural land from its rightful owners.
Silent Displacement and the Dismantling of Palestinian Rural Life
The Israeli government and settlement councils employ the strategy of “silent displacement”, one that avoids formal eviction orders but instead creates unsafe and life threatening conditions to push people out of their homogenous life. Tactics include:
- Denying Palestinian villages in Area C the basic right to build, expand, or establish
infrastructure
- Imposing continuous psychological and economic pressure on residents to relocate
• Confiscating water sources, particularly wells and reservoirs that support agriculture
• Systematically separating Al-Minya and Kisan from nearby Bedouin communities like al-Rashayida and al-Rawa’in to prevent the emergence of any unified Palestinian demographic cluster
This is part of a broader Israeli policy aimed at fragmenting Palestinian rural areas in Bethlehem from each other and from neighboring governorates, while simultaneously linking Israeli settlements through a network of bypass roads and industrial, touristic, and agricultural zones stretching from Gush Etzion to the Dead Sea.
Legal and Community-Based Resistance Efforts
Legal recourse in Al-Minya and Kisan has so far been limited. The local villages’ councils has submitted petitions to the Israeli High Court in an effort to prove land ownership, despite widespread mistrust in an Israeli legal system, which is perceived as a tool for legitimizing settlement expansion. Nonetheless, efforts are underway to document daily violations and file complaints with local and international human rights organizations, as part of a dual legal and media strategy to safeguard rights and resist displacement.
However, the most impactful resistance comes from popular resilience and grassroots initiatives, including:
- open rural-agricultural roads to link residential and Bedouin communities with one another and with city centers
- Extending alternative water and electricity lines to bypass restrictions
- Organizing community protection committees to repel settler attacks and defend land and property
Recommendations
Al-Minya and Kisan represent a clear example of escalating Israeli settlement policies aimed at displacing indigenous Palestinians and redrawing the geopolitical map of the southern West Bank. Given the urgency of the situation, a multi-level response is essential:
- At the Community Level
- Establish a national monitoring unit focused on tracking settlement activity in eastern Bethlehem
- Launch media campaigns highlighting the dangers and the ramifications of linking Gush Etzion to the Dead Sea
- Coordinate with international human rights groups to facilitate fact-finding missions, especially in light of intensified violations post-October 7, 2023
At the Palestinian National Level:
- Integrate Al-Minya and Kisan into the official national and political agenda as frontline communities
- Implement development plans to improve infrastructure and basic services, particularly in water, healthcare, and education
- Present the cases of displacement and human rights violations in Al-Minya and Kisan before the International Criminal Court (ICC), as part of broader files on forced displacement under occupation
At the International Level:
- Urge the UN Human Rights Council to investigate Israel’s use of nature reserves and military zones as tools of gradual annexation
- Pressure donor states to condition aid to Israel on compliance with international law and the protection of civilians under occupation
- Ensure Al-Minya and Kisan are included in EU and UN reporting as among the most at-risk areas in Area C, and prioritize them for international protection and support
Conclusion
The residents of Al-Minya and Kisan have issued urgent appeals to the Palestinian government and popular resistance committees to visit the region and witness firsthand the gravity of the situation. They are calling for immediate national and institutional measures, a popular campaign, and the launch of a collective front to encounter Israel’s ongoing settlement scheme.
The continued attacks on Al-Minya and Kisan are not isolated incidents or random expansions; they are part of a strategic, integrated settlement project aimed at reshaping the Palestinian geographic and demographic landscape in line with Israeli displacement policies. A well-matched Palestinian and international response; legally, politically, and community-based, is urgently required to counter this project and stand up to the expansionist (settlement) agenda that threatens not only the future of these villages, but the very prospects for Palestinian existence, justice and peace.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
