18 July 2010 – At-Tuwani – South Hebron Hills

Yesterday, 17th July 2010, the Summer Camp for children began in the primary school of At-Tuwani, a small village in the South Hebron Hills. Every morning for two weeks, Palestinian and International trainers will organize games and activities for children from 6 to 14 years old. Part of the Summer Camp will take place in Al Fakheit, a village in the desert further south of At-Tuwani, where the school started only last September to guarantee the right to access education for children. The Israeli military escort started, at the beginning of the summer camp, accompaning the children that daily join the camp from the villages of Tuba and Magayr Al-Abeed.

Since 2001, Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost have routinely attacked the children on their journey to and from school but it was not until November 2004 that Israeli authorities established a daily military escort. [...]

May 11th, 2010

At-Tuwani – On the morning of Tuesday, 11thMay 2010, Palestinians from At-Tuwani village found that the fence built between Khelly and Humra valleys had been destroyed during the night. The wire netting was erected about two months ago , in an attempt to protect the village from Israeli settlers raids (such as the events of the 26th January, see press release at: snipurl.com/w5a99) and in response to the ongoing and rapid expansion of the nearby Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost.

At-Tuwani, Southern Hebron Hills – 30 January 2010

On Friday, the 29th of January, Palestinians from the village of Jinba planted 300 almond trees in Umm Mraiga, an area near Jinba village, close to the “Firing Area 918”, just north the Green Line. The action was organized to claim the right of local Palestinians to access their private owned land.

At the end of the 90′s, a wide portion of this area was declared by the Israeli Army a “closed military area” and used for military training. Since then, the Palestinians of Jinba, despite being the owners of the land, have not been able to access and to cultivate the fields in proximity of the firing area.

AT-TUWANI – On Tuesday, 26 January 2010 at least eighteen Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, attacked Palestinians in the village of At-Tuwani. An Israeli soldier punched a Palestinian villager, who was hospitalized for his injuries. Doctors now report that the nose of the villager has been broken and will require an operation.

Women of At-Tuwani also told CPTers that during the attack soldiers threatened them and their children, saying that if they did not leave the area, soldiers would arrest all of the men of the village and kill at least one. Despite being extremely frightened, the women remained where they were and told the soldiers they were welcome to arrest them as well as the men.

AT-TUWANI – On Tuesday, 26 January 2010 approximately fifteen Israeli settlers from the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked Palestinians in the village of At-Tuwani. The settlers were accompanied by Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps and the settlement security agent of Ma’on. Villagers from At-Tuwani arrived, protesting the settlers coming into their village. An Israeli soldier punched a Palestinian villager, who was hospitalized for his injuries. Immediately thereafter, Israeli settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinian villagers while soldiers fired three canisters of tear gas at Palestinians.

Afterwards, the settlers drove to the entrance of At-Tuwani, and began throwing stones at passers-by on the road.
The day’s incident began at 9:20 am when three army jeeps and a pickup truck with an Israeli settler from Havat Ma’on and the settlement security guard from Ma’on drove into At-Tuwani. The settler walked throughout the village, entering Palestinian homes, accompanied by the soldiers and settlement security guard, and then remained in the village and made phone calls until other settlers arrived.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Israeli soldiers attack and injure Palestinian shepherds; arrest Musab Raba’i

7 January 2010

At Tuwani – On the morning of Thursday 7 January, 2010, Israeli soldiers attacked and injured Palestinian shepherds from the Musa Raba’i family, as they grazed their sheep in Humra valley, near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The soldiers also attacked the internationals accompanying the shepherds and broke a video camera. Before leaving the area the soldiers arrested one of the shepherds, Musab Musa Raba’i.

At around 10:30am Palestinian shepherds were grazing their sheep on privately owned Palestinian land when they saw Israeli settlers observing them from the outpost of Havat Ma’on. A short time later an Israeli army jeep came to the area. After stopping to speak with one of the settlers, three Israeli soldiers approached the shepherds and ordered them to leave the area. The shepherds explained that it was their land, but agreed to move further down into the valley. The soldiers followed them and grabbed at one of the shepherds, so they all tried to quickly leave the area with their sheep. A second army jeep came to the area and a further three soldiers joined in the attack escalating the violence. Soldiers hit the shepherds with their rifle butts, pushed them and while some soldiers forcibly held them to the ground others kicked them. [...]

Christian Peacemaker Teams – Operation Dove

30 December 2009

At-Tuwani – On Wednesday morning, 30 December 2009, an Israeli settler from the outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) chased and threw stones at Palestinian schoolchildren from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al-Abeed. The Israeli army exposed the children to this attack by arriving more than 90 minutes late to escort the children to their school in the village of At-Tuwani.

The schoolchildren had been waiting for the army escort to arrive for nearly 30 minutes when an Israeli settler came out from a house within Havat Ma’on. [...]

14 February 2007

AT-TUWANI – Israeli soldiers demolished homes in three Palestinian villages near bypass road 317 on February 14, 2007. Starting in Imneizil at around 9am about forty Israeli soldiers with two bulldozers demolished one home, an animal pen and a stone bake-oven. At noon the soldiers moved to Qawawis where they demolished the homes of five families and one bake-oven, then on to Um Al-Kher where they demolished one home and damaged a wall of another home.

At Imneizil several young children were in their home eating when the Israeli military arrived; the soldiers gave the family time to get out, but did not give them time to remove their personal belongings. The animal pen was demolished with a few animals inside; two lambs were injured. The Palestinian family began immediately to build a makeshift pen for the animals as the majority of the sheep were just returning from grazing in the fields.

In the village of Qawawis one of the demolished homes was over sixty-five years old, and sheltered two families. Photos of the families amid the rubble are on the CPT photo gallery http://www.cpt.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album93

Sunday 19 November 2006

At 8:45am 50 adult, male, Israeli settlers some of whom were carrying guns, walked from the illegal Israeli outpost of Havot Ma’on (Hill 833) toward the small Palestinian village of Tuba. On the way, they encountered the young children from Tuba and Migaer Al-Abeed walking to school in At-Tuwani under Israeli military escort. Most of the children, terrified, ran back towards Tuba. A village elder accompanied them back to their escort and all of the children arrived safely in At-Tuwani, although visibly shaken by their experience.

Two international volunteers from Operation Dove ran from At-Tuwani to Tuba. When they got near the village they met some of the villagers who had fled their houses and taken refuge in the hills. Some of them had taken their flocks of sheep and goats with them. A villager testified that when the settlers first approached the village they said that they were out hiking and would not bother the villagers. The Palestinian said, however, that the settlers entered the village and started throwing stones at the animals and at the village’s generator. They also emptied storage containers of water, a commodity which is in very short supply in the village.

The villagers pointed out the direction in which the settlers had gone.