CASE STUDY this area for decades, many since communities have beenlivingin of area Hills. Palestiniansouth Hebron Yatta Masafer the in live At least1,300peoplecurrently COMMUNITIES MASSAFERYATTATHE Life ina Zone” “Firing United P. O. Box 38712EastJerusalem 91386 ltel+972 (0)25829962 lfax+972 (0)[email protected]

Nations villages… give upandleave our administration to settlers, IDFandcivil pressure from the difficult, we are under communities have beensubjecttoa Zone 918”.Subsequently,these zone for training,a so-called “Firing communities, asaclosedmilitary most ofthisarea,including14 the Israeliauthoritiesdesignated in 1967.However, inthe1980s before theIsraelioccupationbegan

Our life isso Office for theCoordination ofHumanitarian Affairsoccupied Palestinian territory a community leader Khalid, 44years old, Coordination Saves Lives www.ochaopt.org

and destroyed or confiscated most confiscated or destroyed and most oftheresidentsfrom thearea In 1999,theIsraelimilitary evicted transfer outofthearea. are atcontinuous risk of forcible humanitarian aid.Thecommunities poverty levels anddependenceon of living,andincreased their security, lowered theirstandard have undermined theirphysical range of policies and practices that PERSONAL STORY cows that are my new source of income also has a demolition order. I lost everything everything lost I order. five the house demolition a to has Saroura. also Irfaiyeh Irfaiyeh in in Khirbet built income I fled of houses I barn when Israeli source The childrens the them. new My by it. my against are to building that for demolished orders house cows later no permit a was had I demolition have this have but didn’t Saroura; I also Irafaiyeh Khirbet because in left I house after authorities small sold a I built I which cultivated so is in land animals live of the killed but and heads 120 alight Saroura had nearby. I crops live Khirbet our settlers still set the who accessed they - example haven’t relatives I wheat for my our time by 2003 that experience in to Since harvesting donkey. settlement; were continued my continued we I we Ma’on but while us However, from when years. settlement attacked settlers by families several Ma’on for other attacks area nearby with the the violent in 1996 by in land left I closed my was there. access to village children our 10 to road delivered the wife my and married I was born in Khirbet Saroura and have lived there for more than 30 years; I got got I years; 30 than more for there lived have and Saroura Khirbet in born was I

sal atoiis confirmed authorities Israeli of the ongoinglegalcase, the court decision.In2012,inthe context final a pending return, temporarily allowing some of thepeopleto issued an interim injunction order to a petition from the residents, High CourtofJustice,inaresponse Zone”. A few months later, theIsraeli this areawasgrounds that a“Firing of their homes and property, on the Mohammed, old. 54years MAY 2013

oPt they intend to “remove” nine of the of settler violence or by the Israeli remaining communities from the military, and thus have reduced area and allow only limited access income with which to meet their for cultivation and grazing. The own needs, increasing their levels Israeli authorities have continued to of poverty. All of the communities argue that the residents of Masafer located in the Firing Zone are Yatta are living in the area illegally dependent upon food assistance and that they are seasonal dwellers, from humanitarian organizations. not permanent residents, a status Palestinians in these areas are which under current Israeli military unable to plan and develop their orders would allow them to stay. communities. Currently, most of Many of the families however the homes and infrastructure in April 2010 OCHA on 8 The photo by have documentation proving their Al Fakheit clinic, operated by Union of Health Work Committee, and CARE International - Masafer Yatta has been issued with ownership of the land. funded by ECHO. The clinic provides primary health care services and operates once weekly. a ‘demolition’ or ‘stop work’ order Families in two other communities in by the Israeli Civil Administration. the area – Al Kharoubeh and Khirbet At least 80 residential structures and families also live in caves. None of for their livestock but they are not Sarura – have already been forced animal shelters have received such the families are connected to the allowed to build on their own land”. to leave their homes as a result of orders, on the grounds that they water network and thus rely on The restrictions on development settlement activity, including settler were built without the necessary tankered water, provided at up to apply also to the construction of violence. building permits from the Israeli eight times the normal cost. They public service buildings like schools authorities. Building permits cannot are not connected to the electricity Like many other Palestinian and health clinics. There is only one be obtained by these communities network either. At least 30 water communities located in Area C, basic primary school in the area because the land has been designated cisterns, and six solar panels and which is under full Israeli military which has a classrooms located as a “Firing Zone”. wind turbine systems owned by the and administrative control, in Jinba and Al Fakheit – both communities have been issued with Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta Because they are not able to build classrooms have been issued with ‘demolition’ orders. are particularly vulnerable and food ‘legally’, the families in this area demolition orders. Children must insecure. They rely on livestock, are living in sub-standard housing, “These communities are in a walk up to four kilometres to reach mostly sheep and goats, as their unable to expand or even maintain Catch-22 situation” said the UN’s these classrooms and up to seven primary source of income. Some their existing homes which are Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. kilometres to reach the nearest high families are unable to support their simple old stone houses, concrete James W. Rawley who has visited school. A local mosque has been livestock since access to grazing walled structures with tin roofs or the area; ”they need to provide demolished twice since 2011 and areas is restricted due to the threat more temporary structures. Many homes for their families and shelter there are no paved roads serving the

2 LIFE IN A “FIRING ZONE”: THE MASSAFER YATTA COMMUNITIES MAY 2013 community. The local health clinic by confiscation of organisations’ children. We urge the Israeli also has a demolition order issued Last August, during vehicles and equipment, and by authorities to halt the demolitions against it. Ramadan, the army raided our restrictions on the physical access of of homes and infrastructure humanitarian workers to the area. belonging to these communities, to Since the late 1970’s, the Israeli house. They forced us to go facilitate access for humanitarian authorities declared thousands of “These communities are already outside and sit in the sun for a organizations trying to assist them dunams in and around Masafer very vulnerable” said Mr. Rawley. long time, including my father and ultimately to allow them to Yatta, including within the firing “Displacing them from their homes who is 85 years old. He was remain on their land, to live in safety zone, as “state land”. This land and land would be absolutely and dignity”, he added. was subsequently leased to the fasting and it was very hot. They devastating, particularly for the World Zionist Organization, which poured yoghurt and ghee that allocated them for the development we have produced on the floor. of Israeli settlements, illegal under We had invested a lot of work Israeli-declared “Firing Zones” international law. Consequently, in that Approximately 18% of the West Bank has been designated as “Firing Zones”. At least Palestinian communities in Masafer 24 year old Zainab 5,000 Palestinians, mostly herders, live in 38 communities in these areas. Although Yatta became gradually surrounded many of the communities have lived in the areas in question for decades, Palestinian by a belt of Israeli settlements from access to the areas is formally prohibited and their Palestinian residents face repeated the north, east and southeast. One demolitions and displacement. At least ten Israeli settlement outposts, illegal under from Israeli settlers and there has been settlement outpost, established in Israeli law, are partially or completely located in “Firing Zones”. According to available little or no law enforcement by the the middle of the firing zone (Old information, few of these settlement outposts have been removed or their structures Israeli authorities to prevent this. The Ma’on Farm), was removed by the issued with ‘demolition’ orders. Israeli authorities in 2004. communities have also been subjected to regular search and arrest operations Under international humanitarian law, Israel is obliged to protect the Palestinian The establishment of Israeli and by Israeli military training exercises civilian population and to administer the occupied territory for their benefit. The settlements in the area has resulted in conducted in the area. forcible transfer of civilians from or within occupied territory is absolutely prohibited, increased restrictions on the freedom regardless of the motive and whether the affected residents are permanent or of movement of the communities, Humanitarian organizations and donors seasonal dwellers. An occupying power may temporarily evacuate people from their reduced the space available to are currently providing assistance to homes only in the context of active hostilities, if people’s safety or imperative military reasons so demand. Those affected must be provided with adequate shelter and other them for grazing their livestock these communities in an effort to meet assistance for the duration of evacuation. The destruction of private property is strictly and also severely undermined their their basic needs. However, these prohibited. Forced evictions are also prima facie contrary to international human physical security. Over the years, efforts are impeded by the issuance rights law which recognizes the rights of everyone to an adequate standard of living, the communities have regularly of ‘demolition’ or ‘stop work’ orders including to adequate housing. faced intimidation and violence against many of the items provided,

LIFE IN A “FIRINGFor ZONE”: more information,THE MASSAFER please YATTA see the COMMUNITIES OCHA factsheet: The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli-declared “Firing Zones” in the West Bank, August 2012 3 MAY 2013 ?356 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory Hebron PALESTINIAN COMMUNITIES UNDER THREAT Umm Lasafa ¥ Governorate Qinan Jaber IN MASAFER YATTA April 2013 Khashem ad Daraj LEGEND Um al Kher Karmel Hebron School J Medical Center Al Jwaya Regional Road Main Road Local Road Saadet Khashem Communities at high risk of displacement Al Karmil Tha'lah al Karem Other communities in "Firing Zone 918" Khallet Salih Communities already displaced and abandoned Palestinian Community Settlement Outpost At Tuwani Ma'on Settlement Built-up Area Ma'in Settlement Outer limit Rojom An Najada Eshayeb Settlement Municipal Boundary Ar Rakeez Hill 833 ! Israeli Closed Military Area Tuba Ancient Synagogue Khirbet Sarura OSLO AGREEMENT Avigayil (! Area A/B ! Kharoubeh Area C (! Isfey al Tihta ?316 Um Fagarah Maghayir “Wye River” Nature Reserves ! Susiya al Abeed ! Qawawis ! Isfey al Fauqa Suseya North Mantiqat Shi'b al Butum ! Khallet Athaba' Suseya Khirbet at Tawamin Khirbet Tawil ash Shih Dkaika Mitzpe Yair _Magen David Khirbet at Tabban ! Khirbet al Majaz! Khirbet al Fakheit ! qÆ Æc Haribat an Nabi Khirbet Bir al 'Idd ¹º» Beit Yatir Checkpoint ice) mist Imneizil 9 Ar Nof Nesher (194 Halaweh Line ! reen Jinba Mirkez G A Seefer !Æc !

Mezadot Yehuda 101 Kilometers

4 LIFE IN A “FIRING ZONE”: THE MASSAFER YATTA COMMUNITIES MAY 2013