On Saturday, May 19th, 2012, locals together with more than 30 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists (from Norway, the USA, Britain and Italy, amongst others) built a single story prefabricated house in the village of Um Fagara (South Hebron Hills). The event was organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee of Al-Tuwani with the aim of peacefully resisting the Israeli occupation by affirming the right to live of the community of Um Fagara.

Um Fagara is in area C, under both Israeli military and administrative control. It has been subject to a range of evacuations, abuse and demolitions by the Israeli military in recent years. On 24 November, 2011, … Continue reading

On Wednesday, March 14th, 2012, activists from Palestine Solidarity Project planted 50 olive and almond trees in Jabal Al-Sandab, in the south Hebron hills. The land belongs to Yusri Al-Jamal, and the planting of olive and almond trees allows him to protect his land from settlers and soldiers by laying claim to it. When land is not being cultivated, it is easier for Israeli occupation forces to confiscate it.

Jabal Al-Sandab is near the Hagai settlement. Some of the people who live in this settlement moved directly there from Gaza when the settlements there were dismantled in 2005. We fully expected our farming activity to be … Continue reading

On Friday, March 9th, 2012, the funeral took place for the martyr Zakariah Jamal Abu Aram, who was killed on Thursday by Israeli soldiers in Yatta (South Hebron hills). The Popular Peaceful Resistance Committee participated in the funeral to offer emotional support to the family and to coordinate activities in solidarity with both the family and the town to protest the crime. Over 30,000 people attended the funeral, chanting slogans calling for the reinforcement of peaceful resistance in Palestine. The Popular Committee of Yatta arranged and supervised the funeral for the unjust killing of Zakariah, who was about 20 years old. More than a funeral, it was also a protest … Continue reading

On Thursday, March 8th, 2012, a Palestinian resident of the southern West Bank, Zakariah Jamal Mohammad Abu Aram, was killed by Israeli soldiers. At approximately 4:30pm, over 100 Israeli soldiers entered the town of Yatta in an attempt to re-arrest Khaled Shawamra, one of the Palestinians who were released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. People came out to block the street to prevent the soldiers from making the arrest, and the soldiers began shooting in the street and at the surrounding houses. Mohammad was shot and pronounced dead at the Abu al-Hasan al-Qasem Hospital. Many others were injured by rubber bullets and live ammunition, and at least one was taken into Israeli custody. Palestinian … Continue reading

At-Tuwani – On February 15th 2012, the Israeli Army demolished five buildings in the Palestinian village of Saadet Tha’lah and destroyed a water tank and tore down 50 trees in the Palestinian village of Ar Rakeez.

For video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LfbqKtwieg&list=UUpKXxYTHG80BLPckf_YMHtw&index=1&feature=plcp

At around 12 a.m. two bulldozers and three vehicles of DCO (Disctrict Coordination Office) raided in the village of Saadet Tha’lah, escorted by four jeeps of IDF (Israeli Defense Force). One house, two water tanks and two stables for the flocks were demolished. The inhabitants said they have not been allowed to make their animals safe. Five lambs died under the rubble. The owners declared their buildings were under demolition order since 2004.

After the demolitions in Saadet Tha’lah, the army vehicles … Continue reading

On Saturday, February 11th, 2012, about 100 Palestinian demonstrators supported by international and Israeli solidarity activists, organized a demonstration in the community of Susiya, in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. The action was supported by the Palestine Solidarity Project. At 10am, the activists marched to an area where Israeli settlers had illegally erected a house on land belonging to Palestinians, and the Israeli military had blocked off the main access road to Palestinian vehicles with coils of barbed wire.

The demonstrators began to remove the fence from the road and by 11am the road was clear for cars … Continue reading

From Electronic Intifada:

On 24 November Israeli occupation forces demolished two homes, a mosque and a barn, killing livestock, and arrested two young women in the village of Umm Fagarah, in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank.

The incident was caught on video by Operation Dove, an Italian organization that has maintained a presence in the area since 2004.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILiVe1WPafA

The description of the video states:

At 10 am two bulldozers arrived in the village, escorted by five military vehicles. Without showing any demolition order, the army demolished two houses, a mosque, a barn and a structure containing the generator.

Forced to kneel

During the video, two young Palestinian women can be seen being forced to kneel on the … Continue reading

Beit Ula 14.th October 2011: For the Friday prayer a large number of people gathered by the demolished house and fields of Abdul Jabar Ahtal.
After the prayer the crowd walked about and looked at the damage.

A military jeep appeared on the patrol road connected to the apartheid fence built on Beit Ula land. After some time more jeeps turned up and soldiers appeared in the distance on foot.

The soldiers started to shoot tear … Continue reading

On the morning of July 1, Palestinian farmers in Wadi Suweit, on the main road between the settlements of Ma’on and Suseya in the South Hebron Hills, were forced off their
land while they were plowing and preparing their land for cultivation. When solidarity activists arrived at about 8:30am, the scene was quiet, though there where about four military jeeps observing as the farmers worked. By 9 am, several settlers had arrived along several more Israeli military and police jeeps, totaling 14. The settlers stood on one side of thesoldiers screaming and threatening the farmers for an hour. Eventually the Israeli soldiers complied with the settlers demands and told the Palestinian farmers to leave the field.
… Continue reading

Around 12pm on Monday, March 21st, 2011, two Palestinian residents from the village of Beit Ommar in the southern West Bank were shot with live ammunition by an Israeli settler. The settler stopped his car on Route 60 as a funeral procession was moving towards the village cemetery and started firing indiscriminately into the crowd of mourners.

59-year-old Mohammad Ali Abu Safiyya was hit in the chest and is in critical condition in a Hebron hospital. 32-year-old Eyad Bassem Za’qiq was shot in his right thigh. The settler who shot the two men was not arrested.

Israeli Forces arrived on … Continue reading