On ٍSeptember 9th, 2022 Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the demolition orders for the entire infrastructure and homes in Khallet Ad- Dabe’, a village in Masafer Yatta in the southern occupied West Bank. The demolitions include all homes and most livelihood structures in the village including, agricultural buildings, a school, which was previously demolished and now rebuilt-, and sheep pens.
In the same verdict, the court has not just dismissed the last possibility for appeal but also set a date for the demolition order for the village of in Khallet Ad-Dabe’ to take effect: September 29th, 2022.
A whole community comprising more than 90 residents is at the brink of being ethnically cleansed.
Only decisive international pressure to support the struggle and steadfastness of the people on the ground can thwart the criminal decision by apartheid Israel.
Khallet Ad- Dabe’ was subjected to ethnic cleansing practices several times, it is one of the 8 villages of Masafer Yatta that the Israeli occupation authorities have classified as a firing zone ‘918’ in the 1980s.
On May 4, 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court issued a decision to evict more than 1000 Palestinians living in 8 villages in Masafer Yatta from their ancestral land in favor of Israeli illegal existence.
Since the beginning of 2022, Israel has escalated its apartheid policy against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta. Occupation authorities have issued and carried out dozens of demolition orders and the Israeli military has engaged in months of military trainings inside Palestinian villages. The Israeli military has confiscated cars and properties and arbitrarily detained Palestinian residents. Illegal Israeli settlers have assaulted Palestinian residents, invaded villages, and uprooted trees.
This policy is a fundamental part of the huge ethnic cleansing campaign led by the Israeli government and different settler organizations to impose Jewish dominance over the area by forcibly displacing Palestinian people of their lands. After decades of harassment and apartheid policies, the occupation has come to the conclusion that Palestinians would never leave their lands, thus it pursues now a strategic plan to demolish homes and entire villages in order to displace them by force.
Despite all the brutal practices against the Palestinian residents of Khallet Ad- Dabe’, 18 families are steadfastly confronting brutal Israeli attacks and struggling against all criminal ethnic cleansing policies. They are armed with hope and local support as well as international solidarity and pressure. As they believe in their right to live on their ancestors’ land. One of the residents in Khallet Ad- Dabe’ declared: “The occupation can demolish my home or arrest me, but it will never be able to uproot me from my homeland. Another one added, “We will stay here until we die, we will struggle against all these brutal decisions.”
These days, Stop the Wall is calling for a global mobilization in solidarity with the Palestinians in Masafer Yatta to support their steadfastness and resistance against the Israeli massive ethnic cleansing.