HEBRON, Monday, February 1, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers today grazed their cattle on Palestinian cultivated land to the east of Yatta town, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.

Fuad al-'Amour, the Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committee in Masafer Yatta, told WAFA that a group of Israeli settlers allowed their cattle to graze on wheat and barely planted by Palestinian farmers in Khirbet al-Tha‘la, east of the town, in an attempt to seize the land to make room for the expansion of the nearby colonial settlements of Maon and Karmiel.

He called on international human rights organizations to intervene and rein in the Israeli occupation authorities’ practices and armed settler attacks against defenseless Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.

Masafer Yatta is a collection of almost 19 hamlets which 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.

Settler 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.

K.F.