For 22 years, the villagers of Masafer Yatta have struggled with the army declaring their area of residence as a fire zone, and deportation from their homes as a result
Following the High Court ruling on the deportation, harassment of the villagers intensified and a wave of demolition began.
On June 21, 2022, a month of military training began in the area. Every week from Monday to Wednesday ,for a month, there will be training including using live fire inside and between the villages in the area.
Evidence of the residents:
On Monday, June 2002, the Israeli high court rejected the petition presented by Masafer Yatta’s communities for an interim injunction against army maneuvers in the area of their villages. The next day, Tuesday, soldiers placed targets between houses in Majaz (on a water tank, among others) and instructed the villagers to shut themselves inside the houses, in the afternoon, when traffic of military vehicles, tanks and soldiers began, and a tank shell exploded near the village. Tanks trampled tendedfields and came as close as 100 meters to the houses. The maneuvers continued on Wednesday, including tank fire around the villages of Fakhit and Mirkaz. The army blocked roads in the area and tried to prevent activists and journalists from arriving on the scene to document it. Two activists were detained. At night, the army came to Khalat A-Dab’a and demanded the dismantling of tents and a TV studio that was erected there for the duration of the maneuvers.
