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After two decades of inconclusive legal maneuvering, the Supreme
Court issued its ruling late on Wednesday, paving the way for
the demolition of eight small villages in a rocky, arid area
near Hebron known to Palestinians as Masafer Yatta and to
Israelis as the South Hebron Hills.
In its ruling, the court said it had found the Palestinian
dwellers, whose inhabitants have kept a distinct,
generations-long nomadic way of life, making a living from
farming and herding, had not been permanent residents of the
area when the Israeli military first declared it a firing zone
in the 1980s.
Masafer Yatta residents and Israeli rights groups say that many
of the Palestinian families have been permanently residing in
the 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) area since before Israel
captured the West Bank, in the 1967 Middle East War, and that
their eviction would constitute a breach of international law.
"This proves that this court is part of the occupation," said
Nidal Abu Younis, Masafer Yatta Mayor. "We are not going to
leave our homes. We will stay here," he said.
The court said the door was still open for the villagers to
agree with the military on using parts of the land for
agricultural purposes and urged the sides to seek a compromise.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), who along
with Masafer Yatta residents petitioned against the expulsion,
said the verdict would have "unprecedented consequences."
"The High Court has officially authorized leaving entire
families, with their children and their elderly, without a roof
over their heads," ACRI said in a statement.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Ali Sawafta in
Ramallah and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Editing by William
Maclean)
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