Israeli forces on Wednesday beat up a number of international solidarity activists in Masafer Yatta in the southern Hebron hills, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Fuad al-Amour, the coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committee in Masafer Yatta, said that heavily-armed Israeli soldiers brutally assaulted a number of international activists and held two others for a long period.
My voice shakes in this video. Tons of Israeli soldiers just started "training" in Masafer Yatta. They're driving war tanks near a school, as children watch, terrified, they're placing targets on cars and windows, they're doing this to evict us in the most brutal way possible. pic.twitter.com/kWV7JWEraB
— #SaveMasaferYatta (@basel_adra) June 22, 2022
The Israeli army has been conducting drills in al-Markez, one of 12 communities in the Masafer Yatta area, for the second day in a row. According to al-Amour, the Israeli army has been conducting training with heavy weaponry, spreading panic among the residents.
The Israeli army has also deployed military checkpoints in the vicinity of the Palestinian communities in the area, in preparation for military training, and perhaps paving the way for an imminent removal of the Palestinian residents.
WATCH: This afternoon, Israeli forces attacked Palestinian activists, including @YouthOfSumud members, who are standing in solidarity with the communities of Masafer Yatta at risk of immediate eviction. They arrested 2 activists.
This is a display of nonviolent resistance. pic.twitter.com/tNb5oPyWSz
— Good Shepherd Collective (@Shepherds4Good) June 22, 2022
Recently, Israel’s supreme court gave the Israeli army the green light to forcibly expel some 1,300 Palestinians living in twelve villages in the Masafer Yatta area, which relies heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood, marking one of the largest expulsions carried out by the State of Israel in recent decades.
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.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
