CPTnet

12 August 2009

SOUTH HEBRON HILLS: Israeli military blocks access to health and water services for hundreds of Palestinians

SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, PALESTINE At noon on 5 August 2009 between the villages of Mfaggara and Jinba, Israeli soldiers dug up the road with a military bulldozer, creating three earth mounds that made using the road impossible.



The entire village of Kallet Adbea now lies between two of the earth mounds, which also affect villages south of Kallet Adbea. Approximately 700 Palestinians living in the area now do not have access to the nearby village of At-Tuwani or to the city of Yatta, north of At-Tuwani



The affected Palestinian population now cannot get to Yatta—where all health services for the region are located—by ambulance or car. Vehicles likewise cannot deliver food and water to villages in the area, and the villagers can no longer take their products to sell in the Yatta markets.



The Israeli military told international volunteers that the barriers are an attempt “stop terrorists” by closing the border between Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, which lies approximately five km south of the earth mounds. Palestinian men traveling to work as migrant laborers in Israel often use this road (See 12 February CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Soldiers kill Palestinian migrant worker, increase harassment of villagers in South Hebron Hills.")