More than a thousand Bedouin Palestinians living in the hills of Mount Hebron in the West Bank are at risk of losing their homes under zoning laws that allow the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to evict them at any time. In the 1980s, the IDF declared their homeland a so-called “firing zone”, or a closed military zone, allowing it to remove people and destroy their homes. In early May, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition to reclassify the area, meaning residents continue to live in fear of being forced out.
The sounds of shooting, bulldozers and diggers have become normal background sounds for people living in the 12 Bedouin villages and hamlets in the Masafer Yatta region. These communities are home to about a thousand people who are farmers and raise livestock.
