Palestinian family forced to live in the open after settlers occupy their cave shelter
A Palestinian family, displaced multiple times by Israeli demolitions, has been forced to live in the open for nearly two weeks in Masafer Yatta, south of the occupied West Bank, after Israeli settlers occupied a cave they had used as their home.
The al-Amour family began using the cave years ago in Khirbet Sarura — south of al-Khalil (Hebron) — after the Israeli regime’s authorities repeatedly demolished their home under the pretext of “building without a permit.”
Jalal al-Amour, the family head, said the settlers occupied the cave on October 21 while his family had attended a social event in nearby Masafer Yatta town.
“I returned to the cave and found a settler family living inside. They destroyed all my possessions and claimed the cave as theirs,” al-Amour said, adding that the settlers hung an Israeli flag inside the cave after destroying his belongings and bringing their own possessions into it.
Since then, the family of 10 has staged a protest outside the cave with support from Palestinian activists, gathering around a small fire at night to stay warm and spending daylight hours exposed to the sun near the cave.
“I only want my home back. This is my house, and I will not leave until I recover it,” al-Amour said, underlining that a legal team was following the case.
Many Palestinian families in Masafer Yatta now live in caves known locally as “al-Tur” after repeated Israeli demolitions.
Last year, Israeli settlers established an outpost near Khirbet Sarura and the village of al-Mafqara, from which they frequently attack Palestinians and their homes.
“They want to control the entire area and expel Palestinians,” al-Amour said.
Palestinians in Masafer Yatta and surrounding areas face repeated settler attacks targeting homes and farmland.
Media reports indicate that settlers have carried out 7,154 assaults in the occupied West Bank over the past two years, displacing 33 Bedouin communities and establishing 114 new outposts.
The violence in the West Bank has intensified alongside Israel’s genocide in Gaza, where more than 68,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed.
Since Israel launched the merciless war on Gaza in October 2023, the regime’s attacks by its forces and settlers in various parts of the West Bank have killed over 1,000 Palestinians, including 212 children, and injured about 10,000 others.
More than 20,000 others, including 1600 children, were also arrested in the raids, according to official figures.
Over 10,000 Palestinians have been displaced. Settlers and soldiers have destroyed 37,237 olive trees since October 7, 2023.
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