The struggle over land extends to every inch of Masafer Yatta, a landscape where arid fields and mud-dotted paths tell a daily tale of displacement. In the occupied West Bank, 1,144 Palestinians are scattered across twelve districts, facing an endless cycle of threat and erosion of health as soil and dust settle in their lives. The desert region sits on the edge of Hebron and remains under chronic emergency evacuation risk, a reality shaped by power over the land that sustains them.
“I am scared, a profound fear,” a woman living under a veil of fear confesses. The testimony of this resident is among hundreds gathered in a recent MSF report titled The unbearable life: Health implications of mandatory evacuation measures for residents of Israel’s Masafer Yatta. In the 1980s, authorities declared this area a closed military zone, reshaping the destinies of its indigenous communities and intertwining their survival with a fragile future.
“Making Life Impossible”
Today, settlers and soldiers press to push natives from their homes. A MSF spokesperson describes how Israeli authorities have turned daily life into a fortress-like burden designed to force residents to abandon Masafer Yatta. The involvement of the army is framed as a coercive policy with serious legal and humanitarian implications, a claim supported by international observers who consider such displacement a breach of human rights norms. Years of threats, hostility, and fear have taken a toll, with physical and mental health deteriorating rapidly. Since May 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision removing legal barriers to displacement has amplified this distress among the region’s people.
MSF staff report rising demand for mental health care as home invasions and demolitions intensify. In 2022, more than half of MSF patients presented psychosomatic symptoms, about a quarter showed post-traumatic symptoms, and roughly two-thirds displayed depressive symptoms. The environment of constant fear, humiliation, and uncertainty leaves families unsure when their houses, schools, or water tanks might be demolished, compounding distress.
“A constant fear and great uncertainty” frames the lived reality of many residents, Cantero notes, as they describe humiliation and suffering that accompany every day. The region’s long-standing vulnerability is compounded by the sense that rights and access to basic services are being eroded.
Deliveries on the Way
The people of Masafer Yatta—elderly, adults, and children—face immense hardship beyond the toll on mental health. Access to medical care becomes a persistent struggle. MSF clinics report that residents are routinely barred from entering villages where services are offered, with authorities recording residents as coming from outside the area. In such a hostile setting, ambulances encounter delays or blockages, and hospital trips become odysseys as checkpoints cause long waits that endanger health and life.
Observations from field staff reveal a pregnancy in which the outcome depends on luck: whether a patient can reach a hospital or whether her route will be impeded by a checkpoint. The stress and danger are constant, with many residents warned that travel for urgent care could be unsafe. The report describes the challenge of reaching care in places like Khirbet Al Fakih, where four hours of arduous travel on foot can leave even the healthiest individuals at risk of worsening illness.
Resist, a Suicide Mission
Resistance under such pressure often feels like a perilous choice. From May to October 2022, consultations declined by about 30 percent, a trend linked to reduced access and mounting risk. The loss of patients—one chronic case per month, and an aggregate average of four in 2022—reflects the gravity of limited reach for essential medical care. The most vulnerable—women with chronic illnesses, the elderly, and those in late pregnancy—face an amplified danger when urgent care might be blocked by checkpoints or other barriers. The field notes from Cantero emphasize that residents feel compelled to take extraordinary risks to stay connected to life-sustaining services available in Masafer Yatta (El Períodico de Catalunya, Pulsa Ibérica group).
#Israel Settlers raided Masafer Yatta in broad daylight today, killing cattle and plundering fodder belonging to poor Palestinian herders to terrorize and destroy their livelihoods. All settlers released with 0 arrests
Israeli government and settlers aim to depopulate this area illustrated by ongoing reports and images that have circulated since 2023, underscoring a pattern of intimidation and control over the land and its people (attribution: human rights observers and MSF field updates).
Yet many remain, rooted in the mud their ancestors carved out. The Palestinian population, Masafer Yatta in particular, shows remarkable resilience. They adapt to harsh conditions, insisting that the land belongs to them and their forebears. One resident, Yasser from Al Halaweh, plans to stay despite pressure to leave, declaring that even if only a single chicken remains, they will persist in staying on their land (field narratives, Cantero). The struggle is not just about shelter, but about heritage—and a future where families can access care, education, and safety without fear of displacement.