Ethnic cleansing in the West Bank: in Masafer Yatta communities, more than 85% of homes have been reduced to rubble

In Khallet Athaba’, a village in Masafer Yatta, in the Hebron governorate, Palestinian families are enduring daily harassment, intimidation, and violent attacks from Israeli settlers, often under the protection of the Israeli forces. The destruction has left the majority of residents without adequate shelter, water, or electricity.

According to testimonies from the community, since February 2025, Israeli forces conducted four mass demolitions, reducing more than 85 per cent of homes and shelters to rubble, forcing families to move into caves. Last week, Israeli forces returned and demolished seven shelters, nine tents, and six caves, along with over 14 water tanks and the village’s entire electricity system. Families are left with almost no options for safe shelter. Only the school and three houses are left standing.

The community, home to around 100 people, continues to resist displacement despite the scale of destruction. Families who have lost their houses have moved into caves, only to face settlers entering and attacking them inside. One resident described the constant expansion of settlements nearby, with caravans appearing closer to the village each day.

MSF teams who visited Khallet Athaba’ reported that the community urgently needs medical care, mental health support, hygiene items, food, and water and sanitation services. But above all, families stressed their need for protection, dignity, and access to essential services.

MSF delivers primary healthcare and mental health and psychosocial support through mobile clinics serving five villages in and around Masafer Yatta.

One resident told our teams that a month ago, nine settlers forced their way into her home, where she was alone with her four children. The settlers began beating the children with metal bars and attempted to strike her three-month-old baby on the head. Both the mother and the baby were then pepper-sprayed, and the settlers continued beating her while she was trying to protect her baby, fracturing a bone in her hand. One of her children, aged 13, suffered a broken arm, while another, aged 3, sustained a head injury and a bone fracture. The baby was later taken to hospital and remains under observation due to continued vomiting.

What is happening in Masafer Yatta is part of a broader policy of ethnic cleansing, aimed at forcibly transferring Palestinians from the area. Despite repeated demolitions and attacks, no one has left the village. Residents insist they will not become refugees in their own land.