Israelis help Palestinians affected by colonialist attacks

Tuvan:

In a desert area of ​​the occupied West Bank, Israeli activist Eyal Shani fits a small camera on his T-shirt to collect evidence of violence against Palestinian sheep herders.

Campaigners like Shani have been trying to protect Palestinians from Jewish settlers in the rugged Masafar Yatta area south of Hebron in the southern West Bank, but they say it may become more difficult due to increasing attacks since the war in Gaza broke out. Has gone.

“If we are not here the settlers take all the power into their hands, they don’t see Palestinians as human beings,” the 56-year-old man said. “We are the last shield.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to 3 million Palestinians, since 1967 and about 490,000 Israelis live there in communities considered illegal under international law.

The increasing influx of migrants since the war in Gaza has sparked widespread concern and condemnation, including from the United Nations.

Several times a week, Shani travelers visit Yatta and check in on Palestinian herders like Shihada Salameh Makhmareh, 60, who lives with her family in a settlement built on a cliff.

Their cool cave dwelling protects from the heat, but it does not protect them from Israeli settlers living nearby.

Makhamreh said that in mid-January, a group of young residents attacked his home in the middle of the night and beat his 75-year-old mother.

He said the family has been living in fear since then, unable to understand why they were targeted in such a remote area.

“We are peaceful people,” Makhamreh said. “We don’t play politics.”

– ‘A free hand’ –

Attacks by settlers have been increasing in the West Bank for some time, but have increased further since the Hamas attack on October 7, which triggered Israel’s attack on Gaza.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA recorded attacks on 1,096 settlers between 7 October and 31 March, an average of six per day, up from three a day before 7 October and two a day in 2022.

Israeli activists say they are struggling to keep out the adventurous settlers.

Ehud Krinis, a 57-year-old anti-colonial activist, said West Bank residents have been able to count on support from the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.

Two prominent Israeli ministers live in the settlements – Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich – and Krinis said settlers now feel they have “free rein to do almost anything they want.”

Meanwhile, Israeli activists visiting Masafar Yatta say they feel isolated since October 7.

Shani said, “Some people see me as a traitor, that I have betrayed the Zionist idea of ​​an independent Jewish state.”

Irene Blair Lewenhoff, a 73-year-old retired nurse who accompanied Krinis to bring food to the Makhamreh family, said she has felt “very, very alone” in Israeli society since the war, even though she is against Israeli occupation in the West. Running a campaign. Bank for over 50 years.

Problems in Masafar Yatta are long-standing, with the Israeli military declaring the area a restricted military zone in the 1980s.

In May 2022, after a lengthy legal battle, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the army and helped pave the way for the eviction of Palestinian residents who said their ancestors had lived there for generations.

Krinis said the army was allowing settlers to move into the Masafar Yatta hills in order to drive out the Palestinian population.

“The army does not want to expel them directly, so they are trying to do it indirectly,” he said.

The idea, he said, was to “let the settlers exert pressure”.

If settlers make life difficult enough, Palestinians will eventually “decide on their own to move away,” Krinis said.

– ‘Difficult and dangerous’ –

At least 491 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian officials.

At least 19 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

Elsewhere in Masafar Yatta, Israeli workers are helping another Palestinian family after a settler attack.

Zakaria al-Adra said that on 13 October, a resident shot him at close range in the village of al-Tuwani, south of Hebron.

Footage shared by Israeli rights group B’Tselem showed soldiers standing alongside the gunman.

The 29-year-old man said that despite undergoing more than 10 medical operations, he is no longer able to work or support his wife and four children, including 10-month-old twins.

Ehud and Irene come weekly and bring supplies, including diapers, for the children.

Adra’s wife Shouk, 24, told AFP that life had become more “difficult and dangerous” since October 7.

“There are guns all over the township,” he said. Even Israeli and foreign volunteers are no longer safe, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)