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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/supreme-court-decision-masafer-yatta-paves-way-israeli-land-grabs">middleeasteye.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli Supreme Court decision on Masafer Yatta paves way for land grabs</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Akram al-Waara in occupied West Bank - August 22, 2022<br></div>
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<div><p>The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Sunday from the
residents of Masafer Yatta in the southern occupied West Bank,
petitioning against the demolition of two schools, clinics and
structures in the area.</p>
<p>The residents' lawyers had filed the petition following a <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-supreme-court-paves-way-eviction-masafer-yatta" target="_blank">supreme court decision</a>
in May that ordered the expulsion of 1,200 Palestinians in Masafer
Yatta so the area could be turned into an Israeli military "firing zone"
- a training ground for Israeli forces.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'Israel wants to kick us out and they'll do anything to make it happen'</p>
<p><em>- Sami Huraini</em>,<em> activist</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The decision gave the army the green light to completely raze eight
villages in Masafer Yatta to the ground, including Khirbet al-Fakheet
and Janba, and demolish hundreds of other structures in surrounding
villages - including four schools - due to their presence in what the
army has designated as "Firing Zone 918".</p>
<p>The residents' lawyers filed another petition seeking an interim
injunction on Sunday but said that if it fails, it would affect the
nearby villages of Tuba and Isfai as well.</p>
<p>"If the new petition is rejected, which we unfortunately feel will
most likely happen, then it will threaten 50 percent of the structures
in Fakheet, Janba, Tuba, and Isfai with imminent demolition," Sami
Huraini, a local activist with Youth of Sumud, told Middle East Eye.</p>
<p>"There isn't a lot of hope that another petition will stop things.
Israel wants to kick us out and they'll do anything to make it happen."</p>
<p>Huraini warned that while Tuba was not part of the eight villages
that were slated for demolition in May's supreme court decision, it, and
other villages, will continue to see more demolition orders come their
way in the coming weeks and months. </p>
<p>"We have been saying this forever, that even the villages that
weren't listed in the decision in May are going to be under threat
because of the precedent that the supreme court decision laid out,"
Huraini said.</p>
<p>"All of Masafer Yatta is under threat."</p>
<h3>Firing Zone 918</h3>
<p>Masafer Yatta, also known as the South Hebron Hills, lies on the
southern tip of the West Bank, bordering the Green Line. It is home to
several herding communities that live in small hamlets across the hilly
desert terrain.</p>
<p>Around 3,000 hectares of the land in Masafer Yatta, encompassing 12
villages, was declared a military firing zone in the 1980s, and the
Israeli military then sought to remove the residents from the land. It
was subsequently declared <a href="https://www.btselem.org/south_hebron_hills/masafer_yatta" target="_blank">Firing Zone 918.</a></p>
<p>In 1999, the army forcibly expelled around 700 residents of Masafer
Yatta from their homes after declaring that they were living "illegally"
in a firing zone.</p>
<p>The residents petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court soon after the
expulsion, which initiated an interim injunction that allowed them to
return to their homes, but banned any new construction or development in
the area. As a result, many were forced to build without permits to
account for the growing population.</p>
<p>Throughout the court proceedings, the Israeli army continued to
enforce home demolitions in Masafer Yatta and also conduct live military
training in the firing zone, often forcing residents to leave their
homes for days at a time.</p>
<div>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/well-never-leave-story-ancient-palestinian-village-fighting-imminent-israeli-expulsion#autoplay" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/video_thumbnails/dDH1YGF3Tqk.jpg?itok=-tpM2pPW" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="400" height="250">
</a></p><p><font size="1">‘We’ll never leave’: The story of a Palestinian village fighting an imminent Israeli expulsion</font></p>
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<p>The residents' legal battle in the Israeli courts had spanned over 20
years when their petitions were finally rejected by the supreme court
in May. Rights groups have decried the supreme court’s decision, saying
it would amount to forcible transfer, <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule129" target="_blank">a war crime</a> under international law.</p>
<p>Rights groups say that Israel uses firing zones as a tactic to grab
land in the occupied Palestinian territory and use it for Israeli
settlements.</p>
<p>"The State of Israel cites formal arguments such as ‘living in a
firing zone’ and ‘violating planning and building laws’ to justify its
policy in Masafer Yatta. These are false claims, meant to conceal
Israel's aspirations to take over the land for its own purposes and use
it to benefit the Jewish population only,” Israeli human rights group <a href="https://www.btselem.org/south_hebron_hills/masafer_yatta" target="_blank">B</a><a href="https://www.btselem.org/south_hebron_hills/masafer_yatta" target="_blank">'Tselem</a> said.</p>
<p>Classified documents<a href="https://www.972mag.com/firing-zones-sharon-settlements/" target="_blank"> revealed by +972 magazine in July</a> showed
minutes from a 1979 meeting by the World Zionist Organization's
settlement division, during which Ariel Sharon, the agricultural
minister at the time, explained that firing zones "were created for one
purpose: land reserves for settlements”.</p>
<p>It is estimated that as of 2015, approximately 17 percent of the
entire West Bank has been designated as firing zones, primarily in the
Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea area, and the South Hebron Hills.</p>
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