Agencies-Gaza post
IOF attacks international activists in Masafer Yatta
Israeli forces on Wednesday attacked a number of international solidarity activists in Masafer Yatta in the southern Hebron hills, local sources said.
Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committee in Masafer Yatta, Fuad al-Amour, said in a press statement that the heavily-armed soldiers brutally attacked a number of international activists while protesting the military drills close to and in al-Markez, and held two others for a long period.
The Israeli forces conducted drills in al-Markez, one of 12 hamlets making up the Masafer Yatta, which rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood, for the second day in a row.
Al-Amour reported that the forces built mock-ups as targets between the makeshift dwellings of the hamlet residents and has been conducting training with heavy weaponry, spreading panic among the residents.
The forces also deployed military checkpoints in the vicinity of the villages in the area, in preparation for military training, and perhaps paving the way for an imminent removal of the Palestinian citizens.
Recently, Israel’s top court gave the the forces the green light to forcibly evict around 1,300 Palestinians living in twelve villages or hamlets making up the Masafer Yatta area, which relies heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood, marking one of the largest expulsions carried out by the State of Israel in recent decades.
Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the region has been subjected to ongoing Israeli attacks by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living – livestock.
It has been classified as a block Israeli military zone for training since 1980s and accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.
Israeli attacks against the area include destruction of animal barns, homes and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.
