Hebron / PNN /

 In the village of Sarura in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, the struggle to remain on the land and resist occupation and settler expansion is a daily battle. For Palestinian residents, survival, resilience and attachment to their land are not slogans but lived realities shaped by repeated settler attacks, land seizures and displacement.

Tilal Al-Amour sits with several members of his family in a makeshift shelter with no roof, its walls built from worn-out car tyres to shield them from the winter cold. At night, they gather around an open fire for warmth, keeping watch against potential settler assaults carried out under the protection of Israeli soldiers. Their ordeal began after a settler seized the cave where the family had lived, leaving them homeless.

According to Al-Amour, the settler took advantage of the family’s absence while they were attending a wedding. He arrived with his wife, occupied the cave and prevented the family from returning or living there.

With a few words, Al-Amour sums up his family’s tragedy: “They took the land and the people. Nothing is left — no trees, no stones. People are forced to live outside under trees. They beat the elderly and spared no one.”

Al-Amour said he was shocked to find the settler inside his cave when he returned 14 days ago. “He stood there with his wife and stopped us from coming close, saying the cave was now his,” Al-Amour said. For nearly 16 days, the family has been living in the open after Israeli soldiers demolished a tent he had erected and confiscated the family’s belongings, telling them they were not allowed to remain in the area under what he described as false security claims.

During the day, the family stays outdoors, sitting beneath trees. At night, they return to the tyre-walled shelter, lighting fires to keep warm. They divide themselves into shifts, with some sleeping while others stay awake to protect the family from settler attacks.

Al-Amour compared their current situation with life in the cave, where everything they needed was available. “We had a water well, electricity and trees. Everything was there. We cooked on fire and lived together — my father, his wife, my wife and my children,” he said. Some of his children attend school, while others are university students. “Now we are exposed to the open air, and the army prevents us from even putting up a tent. The moment we placed two wooden poles; Israeli soldiers came and removed them.”

He questioned how the army could prevent his family from erecting a tent while allowing a settler to seize their cave. “We own this cave and have documents proving it,” he said.

Sarura and other villages and hamlets in Masafer Yatta have faced an intensified campaign since the 1980s, led by settlers under Israeli military protection, aimed at forcing residents to leave their land to expand settlements and establish new outposts. In 2022, Israeli forces demolished Palestinian homes and forcibly displaced residents under security pretexts.

In the summer of 2025, Israeli forces evacuated the nearby hamlet of Khallat Al-Dabaa after demolishing all homes and caves and expelling its residents in favour of settlers and colonial interests, declaring the area a closed military zone. Hundreds of farmers were also denied access to grazing lands and crops, stripping many of their right to live with dignity, safety and security.

This story was produced as part of the Qarib projest, implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI) in partnership with and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).