- Title: Palestinian cave-dwellers worry over Israeli settler incursions
- Date: 4th February 2021
- Summary: SUSIYA, WEST BANK (JANUARY 23, 2021) (REUTERS) ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS SINGING AGAINST ISRAELI FORCES, SAYING (Arabic): "NO FOR THE OCCUPATION" NEAR WEST BANK SETTLEMENT ISRAELI FORCES WALKING TOWARDS ACTIVISTS ACTIVISTS CHANTING AGAINST ISRAEL SAYING IN (English): 'OCCUPATION NO MORE, 5,6,7,8 ISRAEL THE FASCIST STATE' ISRAELI FORCES DISPERSING ACTIVISTS USING STUN GRENADES ISRAEL SETTLERS CHASING JOURNALISTS USING THEIR DOGS SUSIYA, WEST BANK (JANUARY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN LIVING IN CAVE WITH HIS FAMILY, BARAKAT MOUR, WALKING OUT OF CAVE MOUR LOOKING AT ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ISRAELI SETTLEMENT AS SEEN FROM MOUR'S LAND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN LIVING IN CAVE WITH HIS FAMILY, BARAKAT MOUR, SAYING: "Here is where I was born. I was born in this cave. I am 60 years old, my mother gave birth to me in this cave. Homeland is very dear and my land is very dear to me, it is part of me. I have 12 brothers, my father has a family of around 450 members and this land is ours." VARIOUS OF WOMEN COOKING INSIDE CAVE MAN WAKING UP MOUR'S BROTHER, ISMAEL MOUR, MAKING COFFEE ISMAIL DRINKING COFFEE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN LIVING IN CAVE WITH HIS FAMILY, ISMAEL MOUR, SAYING: "When anyone of them (Israeli settlers) come here, they psychologically affect our children and women, we feel our lives are under threat because of the settlers. Whenever we pass by the settlement especially at night they keep bothering us and telling us that we shouldn't keep moving in and out." VARIOUS OF WOMAN BAKING BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN LIVING IN CAVE WITH HIS FAMILY, ISMAEL MOUR, SAYING: "Despite all the actions and threats which the (Israeli) army and the liaison office are doing in co-ordination with the settlers, we will stay in our land and we will never go out." SUSIYA, WEST BANK (JANUARY 23, 2021) (REUTERS) ISRAELI SETTLERS AT SCENE LOOKING AT ACTIVISTS WHO ARE SUPPORTING PALESTINIAN FAMILY AGAINST ISRAELI FORCES AND SETTLERS ISRAELI FORCES STANDING BETWEEN ACTIVISTS AND SETTLERS ISRAELI SETTLEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST, NASIR NAWAJA, SAYING: "Today we are here to support Mour family in At-Tuwani village near Susiya, the family has faced many attacks from the settlers who are trying to displace them from their cave and home in the area." SUSIYA, WEST BANK (JANUARY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) BARAKAT MOUR WALKING IN FIELD MOUR LOOKING AT ISRAELI SETTLEMENT WOMAN WITH CHILDREN OUTSIDE CAVE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN LIVING IN CAVE WITH HIS FAMILY, BARAKAT MOUR, SAYING: "The settlers don't care about limits, you'll be sitting with your wife in the cave and the settlers will raid it without any notice, they raid and break things. Four days ago, around 70 settlers raided the cave in one minute, we had to leave the cave, we were five men and the women were in the other area, we had to leave because if we only touch one of them, that can be considered as a threat and we can be taken to jail." ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ISMAEL MOUR LOOKING AT SETTLEMENT ISMAEL MOUR SMOKING WHILE LOOKING AT SETTLEMENT
- Embargoed: 18th February 2021 10:09
- Keywords: Israel Palestinians West Bank attacks settlement settlers violence
- Location: SUSIYA, WEST BANK
- City: SUSIYA, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001DY8BYOL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Home for Palestinian Barakat Mour is a hillside cave in the West Bank, which he says is often under threat from Israeli settlers in the occupied territory.
"You'll be sitting with your wife in the cave and the settlers will raid it without any notice," Mour, 60, told Reuters about his family's dwelling near the West Bank city of Hebron.
"Here is where I was born. I was born in this cave. Homeland is very dear and my land is very dear to me, it is part of me," he said.
The Israeli military said that in recent weeks "there have been several reports of friction between settlers and Palestinians in caves near the village of (At-Tuwani)" and that troops worked to "separate the participants and restore order".
Natural caves dot the southern Hebron hills. According to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, Palestinian cave-dwellers have been living there at least since the 1830s, using some caves as shelter for sheep and goats and others as homes.
Most have openings carved from stone and are divided into a living space, a storage area and a kitchen.
Mour and his 12 brothers live in the Palestinian village of Yatta, but spend most days in a cave and rotate sleeping there to deter settlers from seizing it at night, he said. Mour said that in one incident last week around 70 settlers entered the cave and damaged property.
Some 440,000 settlers live among more than 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and that Palestinians seek for a future state.
Most countries view Israeli settlements in occupied territory as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historic, biblical and political links to the land as well as security needs.
Israeli and Palestinian activists have staged demonstrations outside the cave to support Mour's family.
At one recent protest, on Jan. 23, activists banged drums and chanted "occupation, no more" towards a group of settlers before being dispersed by Israeli troops firing stun grenades.
The military said "a disturbance developed" during which a number of Palestinians violated an order to leave the area, resulting in soldiers employing "riot dispersal means".
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