Israel demolishes 11 buildings in West Bank’s Masafer Yatta, raising fears of expulsion for residents

Demolitions in Khalet al-Daba

Hagar Shezaf reports in Haaretz on 11 February 2025:

Israeli authorities demolished 11 buildings on Monday in the West Bank’s Masafer Yatta region, in what regional council leader Nidal Younis says was the most extensive demolition of the last two years.

Both locals and legal experts fear that Monday’s demolition, along with accelerated legal proceedings, could herald an expulsion from Masafer Yatta, which is located in the South Hebron Hills.

Most demolitions took place in the village of Khalet al-Daba, where some buildings and infrastructure were donated by foreign countries. Houses, caves, a tent, and water and electricity infrastructure were destroyed. In addition, one building was razed in the village of Maghayir al-Abeed and two others in Jinba.

Younis said the last time buildings were demolished in the latter village was nine years ago. He also said the current demolitions were unusual because they were carried out with no advance notice and in bad weather. “In the past, they tried to take that into account,” he said.

Residents of the cluster of villages known as Masafer Yatta, whose battle is at the heart of the Oscar-nominated documentary “No Other Land,” have been at risk of expulsion ever since Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in 2022 that the villages could be destroyed to make room for a military firing zone. The ruling was issued in response to a petition by residents of eight of the villages, all of which are located in an area declared a firing zone in 1981. In June 2022, the military conducted its first exercise there in 20 years.

Since that ruling was issued, the residents’ lawyers have submitted various requests to exempt some buildings from demolition. But in recent months, they said, these requests have been rejected at an accelerated pace, leading to fears that an expulsion is imminent.

In one such case, Attorney Netta Amar-Shiff asked that the school and clinic in the village of Khirbet al-Fakheit be exempted from demolition. That request was rejected in December, but she then filed another petition, which is still pending.

Another development that could indicate accelerated preparations for expulsion was a recent statement the state sent to Attorney Michael Sfard. Sfard represents Comet-ME, an organization that supplies renewable energy systems to Palestinian villages in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control per the Oslo Accords.

In 2023, Sfard appealed to the Supreme Court against a decision to raze the electrical grid in another Masafer Yatta village, Khirbet at-Tabban.  On January 16, in response to this appeal, the state said it wouldn’t demolish the grid until it demolishes the buildings it serves. It also promised to give the organization 30 days’ advance notice before carrying out the demolition. On Sunday, Sfard filed a petition asking that the demolition order be nullified.

Regavim, a far-right organization founded by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed Monday’s demolitions. “Sometimes, the truth defeats a false narrative,” it said in a statement on X. “After more than three decades of foot-dragging by the state, we have been privileged to see significant, resolute action that begins restoring governance. Unusually, the state took steps to obey the law despite heavy international pressure.”

The army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said the Civil Administration had conducted enforcement operations against various structures built “in violation of the law and without the necessary permits inside a firing zone in the South Hebron Hills.” The demolitions were carried out in accordance with the law and the relevant regulations and were approved by the government, it added.

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