As the world has focused on the Gaza genocide, a massive Israeli campaign of violence and displacement has taken place across the West Bank. Photojournalist David Lombeida tells the stories of families in the South Hebron Hills and Jordan Valley.

BY DAVID LOMBEIDA, MONDOWEISS, NOVEMBER 12, 2024 

While the world watches Gaza unfold, a shadow is cast in the occupied West Bank where a surge of unprecedented violence and displacement is taking place. 

Abdul Rahman from Wadi al-Seeq states, “It became a totally different life between Oct 6th, and Oct 7th”, after his entire community was forced to flee for fear of their lives. Since the October 7, 2023 20 Palestinian communities in the West Bank, comprising over a thousand people have been displaced due to settler violence. Additionally, the number of Palestinians displaced by settler violence on average per month has more than doubled, totaling 280 people per month. 

In tandem with settler violence, home demolitions by the Israeli government have also increased.  In a recent report by the United Nations Humanitarian Agency (OCHA), its states from Oct 7th to June 3rd, 2024, the Israeli government destroyed over 900 homes, displacing over 2000 people through demolitions.  In January OCHA stated there was a “36 percent increase in displacement since the beginning of 2023.” 

The following images were taken in the South Hebron Hills and Jordan Valley of the West Bank.  The photographs document five families that have been forced out of their communities due to settler violence or lost their homes from demolitions, and in some cases, due to both. Their stories share an ongoing reality of displacement and settler harassment throughout the West Bank. Every single family I spoke with is still being harassed by the same settlers who displaced them and reported their homes to the army for demolition. 

Rammun – Jordan Valley

Abdul Rahman Mustafa Kabnaah lived with his wife and seven children in Wadi al-Seeq – a small village in the Jordan Valley consisting of 31 families.  The village started having problems with settlers when an outpost (illegal settlement) was built nearby.  From February until October 2023, the community experienced nearly daily harassment.  But after Oct 7th the settlers increased their harassment to new heights and prevented the community from using any source of water and blocked off entrances for vehicles.  On Oct 10th, an Israeli activist discovered a settler online chat forum calling for the massacre of Wadi al-Seeq.  Two days later, settlers came into the village and started attacking the entire community of 250 members, beating them to the ground, putting boots on their faces, and shooting in the air.  Abdul Rahman states, “After the beating, they gathered us all in one place, and told us you have one hour… any Palestinian left here, will die.”  The entire community left on Oct 12th, and have been displaced throughout the surrounding areas. 

Abdul Rahman’s children stand by a water tank, which is the family’s source of fresh water.  The Kabnaah family has been displaced twice since fleeing Wadi al-Seeq, moving between different properties in Rammun. The owner of the land where they are currently living has allowed them to stay temporarily, and they do not know what they will do once they have to leave.

Duma – Jordan Valley

Rashash was a small community located in the Jordan Valley.  In 2015, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished all the homes in Rashash. Most members of the community left, except for Suleiman Zawahre and his tribe.  The tribe comes from a long history of Bedouins and their livelihood depends on grazing sheep.  But since 2017, Israeli settlers started expanding more structures near their land, denying access to grazing, and blocking access to their spring – a vital resource for the village. 

After October 7, 2023, the community faced an even harsher reality. Three days after the 7th, the settlers brought bulldozers and blocked the entrances to the village, came into the community, and increased their harassment.  Working with Israeli activists against displacement and land seizure, the activists informed them the neighboring village of Wadi al-Seeq had fled due to threats against their life, and told them they had no way to help the residents of Rashash.  On October 14th, two days after Wadi al-Seeq, the community of 18 families decided to unblock the road at night, and abandoned their homes for fear their village would have the same fate as Wadi al-Seeq.  

Suleiman describes it as, “a Nakba following another Nakba,”  saying of the settlers “they used the war to take our lands.”  The community currently finds themselves spread out in the neighboring town of Duma.

Khirbet ar-Rahwa – South Hebron Hills

Jamel Mahharza lives with his brother and extended family, around 20 people in total, in the small hamlet of Khirbet ar-Rahwa, in the South Hebron Hills.  In March the family received a demolition order from the Israeli military, and on June 6, Jamel saw bulldozers coming to his property while he was grazing his goats. 

When he arrived to the scene, the Israeli Border Police had forced his family into a tent, and began the demolition.  In the process, they cut the solar panel cables and his property currently has no electricity. 

Jamel states, “These houses were built with brick and were safe for my children to sleep, now they are thrown to nowhere.”  

The family has now returned to the tents, erected near a natural stone cave, to sleep. The cave hasn’t been used in three years and hasn’t been properly maintained.  When asking Jamel’s brother, Ahmed, if he’s had encounters with settlers he replied, “I can’t even remember how many times I’ve been beaten by settlers, they broke my teeth.”

Al-Jawaya – South Hebron Hills

On June 4th, Mahmoud Jibril Nawaja, his wife, and eight children were forced out their home when the Israeli Border Police carried out an order to demolish the residence. Mahmoud worked in construction his whole life, saving up 250,000 shekels ($67,000 USD) to build their home. Two months into the construction of his home, in 2022, the Israeli Civil Administration deemed the house “unauthorized”. Two years and a long legal battle later, Mahmoud lost his home.

During the demolition of his home, Israeli soldiers struck him with the end of their rifle, causing him to faint and be hospitalized. 

Mahmoud fixes an olive tree with his son Anan outside a shed on his property that will now be his temporary shelter. “This is my land, I have the right to build a shelter for my children on my property,” he says.  When asked what he will do now, Mahmoud replied, “All my life dreams collapsed in front of my eyes… we are waiting for God, we have no plan.” 

Khirbet Shuweika – South Hebron Hills

The Samamrah family had lived in Zanuta for generations before the creation of Israel in 1948. 

Fares Samamrah, the father of the family describes how the Israeli settlers around Zanuta were not so violent until a man named Yinon Levi arrived in the area in 2020.  Yinon Levi is one of four settlers who were sanctioned by the U.S. and Israeli governments, freezing his bank accounts and banning him from entry into the United States.  Since Levi arrived, settlers have been encroaching on Samamrah’s land, eventually building an illegal outpost nearby. 

After Oct 7, the settlers made living conditions unbearable by damaging resident’s homes, blocking grazing lands, and beating members of the community.  After 21 days of constant harassment, the community of Zanuta collectively decided to leave due to safety concerns. Many of the residents, including Fares Samamrah and a number of his relatives, were displaced to the nearby Khirbet Shuweika. 

“Before Oct 7, it never came to my mind that I would leave Zanuta”, states Fares Samamrah. In total, 27 families in Zanuta, over 250 residents, were displaced.  

Fares Samamrah’s son, Jibril, was recently attacked by the same settlers that displaced him and his family from Zanuta. Jibril was grazing his family’s sheep on the afternoon of May 30th when four armed settlers surrounded him.  He describes how they beat him with the back of their rifles to the ground, removed his shoes, belt, and phone, and started beating him with his own belt. Jibril states, “They put a knife to my throat and were shouting I will slaughter you.  All I could think about was I am going to die.”

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David Lombeida
David Lombeida is an independent photographer and filmmaker currently based in Istanbul, documenting the effects of conflict, migration, and surviving trauma. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNN, and Al-Jazeera, among other publications. He’s an alumnus of the 2021 Eddie Adams Workshop, and his website can be found here.