From Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove

AT-TUWANI – The past two weeks have seen a marked rise in settler activity outside the illegal settlements* of Ma’on and the Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) outpost. This has varied from settlers crossing Palestinian grazing land, to grazing their sheep while shooting rocks from slingshots at nearby Palestinian shepherds, to abducting young Palestinian shepherds with the aid of the Israeli military and police.

On Friday afternoon, 19 February, 2010, Israeli settlers, soldiers and
police detained a 12-year-old boy from the Palestinian village of Saadet
Tha’lah, located near the Israeli settlement of Carmel in the South Hebron Hills. The boy had been grazing his family’s flock alone in their regular grazing area, just above Umm Zeitouna … Continue reading

From Christian Peacemaker Teams

At Tuwani – On the morning of Thursday 7 January, 2010, Israeli soldiers attacked and injured Palestinian shepherds from the Musa Raba’i family, as they grazed their sheep in Humra valley, near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The soldiers also attacked the internationals accompanying the shepherds and broke a video camera. Before leaving the area the soldiers arrested one of the shepherds, Musab Musa Raba’i.

At around 10:30am Palestinian shepherds were grazing their sheep on privately owned Palestinian land when they saw Israeli settlers observing them from the outpost of Havat Ma’on. A short time later an Israeli army jeep came to the area. After stopping to speak with one of the settlers, three … Continue reading

On Thursday, December 10th activists from PSP took part in a solidarity march in the village of At-Tuwani. The children of the At-Tuwani school (along with other Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals) marched south from the village of At-Tuwani to the school in Al-Fakhit. Al-Fakhit school opened this school year to accommodate students living in Maghayir Al-Abeed, Markaz, Halawe, Fakhit, Majaaz, and Jinba. The teachers at Al-Fakhit school travel from Yatta each day and pick up schoolchildren along the route. The purpose of this 10 kilometre march was to draw attention to the ongoing obstacles children and teachers face when traveling to school. The … Continue reading

This week international and Israeli solidarity activists along with members of PSP, joined farmers near the Susiya settlement to harvest their remaining olives after several of their trees were cut down by settlers. The farmers arrived to their land one week ago to find trees across several dunums of land had been cut down and left to die on the arid ground. A few days later, the owners of the land returned to clear the area and harvest what they could from the felled trees and remaining groves. The settlers of the South Hebron Hills, where Susiya is located, are some of the most … Continue reading

This Saturday, October 3, residents of the small town of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills were accompanied by approximately 40 international and Israeli solidarity activists on a tree-planting mission. The group walked out of town in the direction of Ma’on, an illegal Israeli settlement that has been expanding with great speed in the last few months. In September alone, 6 new homes were erected near the settlement, continuing to encroach on privately-owned Palestinian land. In response to this illegal expansion, the popular committee of At-Tuwani organized a mass tree-planting session. Activists spent several hours clearing the ground and planting fruit trees throughout the area near the … Continue reading

From Anarchists Against the Wall

Some 100 Israeli activists left Tel Aviv and Jerusalem today to bring water to several isolated villages in the South Hebron Mount. These villages suffer more than anywhere else from Israel’s racist water policy, as they lack connection to water pipes, and suffer from army attacks on what few water wells and deposits they have. Busses where harassed several times on the way, and stopped completely near the Carmel illegal settlement, where soldiers claimed the area was a closed military zone, though no warrant was shown. Activists got off the busses and started marching, passing the bewildered soldiers and policemen and moving on towards their destination. Attempts to stop the spontaneous march failed, and the … Continue reading

From Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove

At a time when the international community is calling for a freeze on new building in settlements and the disbanding of settlement outposts, the settler community of the South Hebron Hills is continuing its expansion unabated.

Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement on Ma’on, in the South Hebron Hills area, are constructing at least five new caravans on the south-west side of the settlement. Internationals based in the nearby Palestinian village of At Tuwani first observed building preparatory work in Ma’on a few days ago. Today, as the new caravans were being built, settlers began preparatory work on a nearby hilltop for further settlement … Continue reading

From Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove
For more information contact: 054 253 1323 and 054 731 5035 (respectively)

At noon on 5 August between the villages of Mfaggara and Jinba located in the South Hebron Hills an Israeli military bulldozer and a hummer with five soldiers created three earth mounds, blocking the road. In addition, the military damaged the road by digging it up to create the earth mounds.

The entire village of Kallet Adbea is now closed between the two of the earth mounds. In addition, the mounds affect villages south of Kallet Adbea. It is estimated that approximately 700 Palestinians living in villages in the area are affected by the mounds as they do not have access … Continue reading