Israel using Gaza war to forcibly transfer Palestinians from South Hebron Hills
Since the war in Gaza began, Israel has greatly increased its efforts to drive Palestinian shepherding communities out of their homes and land in the South Hebron Hills, including in the area designated Firing Zone 918. The communities are being subjected to unusually extreme violence on a daily level, carried out by settlers with state backing and military and police support. | The attacks have been virtually incessant, with little relief. By night and by day, armed settlers have entered residents’ homes, assaulted them and overturned their belongings, taking away their mobile phones to prevent documentation. They have destroyed solar power systems and water containers, stolen livestock and in some communities, as in Khirbet Susiya, threatened to kill residents if they do not leave within a short period. ● For many years, Israel has sought to take control of this area by making the Palestinian residents’ lives so unbearable, they abandon their homes and land seemingly of their own accord. This strategy is two-pronged: officially, the authorities impose extreme restrictions on construction and development in these communities, and forbid them from hooking up to power and water grids; unofficially, settlers carry out systematic violence against the communities, driving shepherds away, restricting access to water sources and encroaching on pastureland. ● In May 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the state had the authority to declare much of the South Hebron Hills a firing zone and expel some 1,000 Palestinian residents, who have lived there for generations, long before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967. The court’s decision was given 22 years after the initial petition was filed. During that time, Israel put the residents’ lives on hold and prevented them from building homes and public structures or developing basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads.