Israeli Army Restrictions And Settler Violence Intensify In Masafer Yatta, West Bank

In the West Bank, the war that began on October 7 has been accompanied by intensified Israeli army restrictions and settler violence, with Palestinians in Masafer Yatta struggling to preserve their right to remain on their lands.

“On the occasion of the International Day of Peasant Struggles, rural communities across Tunisia mobilized to defend their land, their livelihoods, and their dignity”

La Via Campesina

Le Devoir describes how, in the southern Hebron area in Masafer Yatta, “Since October 7, restrictions by the Israeli army and violence by settlers have intensified,” and it places the village of Susya in Zone C, “fully controlled by Israeli authorities.”

La Via Campesina

The article says Susya is “not recognized by the State of Israel,” and that “Since the 1980s, our village has been destroyed seven times,” with the “last demolition… in 2014.”

Nasser Nawajaa, who drives over rugged hills to reach his prefab home in Susya, says, “On October 20, two weeks after the war began, the Israeli army closed access to my village, Susya, with enormous blocks of stone.”

He adds that the road has become inaccessible for those with a small car, explaining, “Now we have to drive along the shoulder to enter.”

Le Devoir also reports that Palestinians in Susya live in “makeshift installations” and that “It’s precarious; we cannot build real houses, they would be immediately demolished by the Israeli army.”

WAFA reports that Israeli occupation authorities have threatened to seize and have moved to seize large areas of land and roads in Masafer Yatta, framing the measures as essential for settlement expansion and connectivity.

In a June 29, 2025 report from Hebron, WAFA says the Israeli occupation authorities informed the council of the village of Masafer Yatta of “the seizure of hundreds of hectares of Palestinian lands and of several essential roads for the expansion of the settlements.”

Le Devoir

WAFA quotes Abu Aram, head of the Masafer Yatta village council, saying the occupation authorities issued notices ordering the seizure of agricultural lands and “prohibiting citizens from using or accessing them, particularly the roads linking the region's villages.”

The report specifies that “the road linking the villages of Janba and Bir al-Ad has been seized,” and says the measure aims to connect the Metzir settlement to bypass road 317, “thus opening the way for the settlement's expansion at the expense of Palestinian lands.”

WAFA also says the occupation decision includes “the seizure of the road between Wadi Ma'in and Umm al-Shaqhan,” and “the seizure of about three hectares of land belonging to the al-Jabarin family under the pretext of 'military use,'” which it says will prevent landowners from accessing “about 700 hectares planted with olive trees.”

In a separate WAFA report dated April 30, 2026, the agency says armed colonists blocked Palestinian farmers from accessing their lands in Masafer Yatta after taking over part of the land in the Wadi Al-Jawaya area.

Accounts from the West Bank emphasize how restrictions and violence are experienced day-to-day by Palestinians and documented by activists.

“West Bank, October 2022”

Mediapart

Le Devoir includes testimony from Nasser Nawajaa about the practical effects of the October 20 closure, where he says, “Now we have to drive along the shoulder to enter,” and it describes how Susya’s residents cannot build permanent structures because “they would be immediately demolished by the Israeli army.”

The same Le Devoir report quotes Nasser explaining why tarps are installed on roofs: “It’s to hide us from Israeli drones,” and it adds that because Susya is not recognized, “we are not allowed to build new facilities.”

Le Devoir also brings in Jacob, a pro-Palestinian activist from the United States who prefers not to have his last name published, who says, “Every day, young settlers arrive with their sheep to settle on the Palestinians’ lands.”

Jacob adds that “The animals devour the plants, they destroy the Palestinian fields, then they leave.”

The report also quotes Wissam Raba’i, 20, describing settler attacks since October 7: “Since the war began, the settlers have attacked us about twenty times.”

Beyond Masafer Yatta, Mediapart describes how the war’s heightened tension reaches agricultural life in the West Bank during the olive harvest.

The article places the scene in West Bank, October 2022, and identifies Doha Asous, a farmer from the village of Burin, harvesting olives on land “located just a few hundred meters from the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.”

وكالة الانباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية

Mediapart says Yitzhar is “known to be one of the most violent in the West Bank,” and it quotes Doha describing how she can work only on about a quarter of her family’s land because “the rest being inaccessible because of the settlements.”

Doha says she learned to farm with her grandmother and mother, and she frames olive harvesting as both livelihood and tradition, explaining, “Olive harvesting is so important for the Palestinian people. It’s a crop, and many Palestinian families depend on it, but it’s also a tradition.”

She adds, “There is an Arabic saying: 'Olive oil is the pillar of the home,'” and the article describes how, in early November, when she went to her lands near another settlement, she was attacked by settlers.

Mediapart reports that the next day she discovered “about fifteen olive trees destroyed.”

While the sources focus on West Bank restrictions and violence, they also connect rural resistance to broader political and economic struggles, including how governance models shape dependency.

“Hebron, June 29, 2025, WAFA – The Israeli occupation authorities informed on Sunday the council of the village of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, of the seizure of hundreds of hectares of Palestinian lands and of several essential roads for the expansion of the settlements and their connection to the settlements' road network”

وكالة الانباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية

La Via Campesina reports that, on the occasion of the International Day of Peasant Struggles, rural communities across Tunisia mobilized in Borj Toumi, Zaghouan, Bizerte, Jebeniana, and Gabès to defend “their land, their livelihoods, and their dignity.”

La Via Campesina

The article says the actions were organized by the Tunisian association “Million Rural Women and Landless” (MRWL) and that the mobilizations were “acts of resistance against a common system of structural marginalization,” while also expressing solidarity with Palestinian peasant farmers.

It describes a “landmark conference held on April 19,” led by Professor Abdallah Ben Saad, which brought together “Tunisian peasant farmers, researchers, and activists for land justice” to discuss “the agricultural reality in Palestine under Israeli colonialism.”

The piece frames this as part of a transnational narrative where peasants are “defenders of sovereignty” and “actors of political transformation,” and it links resistance to opposing “military occupation or economic liberalization.”

La Via Campesina also situates Tunisia’s agricultural crisis in a governance model that turns sovereignty into dependency, describing how Tunisia’s engagement intensified after the EU–Tunisia Association Agreement signed in 1995.