HEBRON, Friday, January 15, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces today sealed off At-Tuwani locality, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.

Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committees in Masafer Yatta Fouad al-‘Amour said that Israeli troops set up barriers at all roads leading to the locality, preventing access into the locality.

The Israeli army imposed the closure in an attempt to deny Palestinians from the surrounding villages and international solidarity activists access into the locality to take part in a rally against frequent army and settler attacks against Palestinians and their property in the area.

Located 14 kilometers south of Hebron, At-Tuwani locality consists of two hamlets, and together with Masafer Yatta, a collection of almost 19 hamlets, cover 37,500 donums, and rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood.

Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living - livestock.

It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since 1980s and accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.

Israeli violations against the area include demolition of animal barns, homes and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Settlers‘ violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.

K.F.