Israeli settlers encircle Palestinian homes in Hebron Hills, restricting water and movement
Since October 5, settlers have surrounded the Shanaran family home in Wadi Rakhim, preventing them from accessing their well and requiring army coordination for basic supplies.
In the South Hebron Hills, the Shanaran family’s two-storey home has been under a settler siege since early October, after a tent was positioned just 30 metres from their door and the family was attacked with sticks and pepper spray. The settlers maintain a 24-hour presence, blocking access to the well that Shanaran built and forcing the family to request army coordination for water, food and school trips. Field researcher Nasser Nawajeh reports that aid deliveries are repeatedly thwarted, and the army’s occasional removal of the tent is followed by its rapid re-erection.
Observers say the soldiers stationed outside act more as a shield for the family than as enforcers of the law, while the area’s mixed Israeli-Palestinian control (Area B) allows the blockade to continue unchecked. Similar tactics are being used in nearby villages, where outposts isolate Palestinian homes and farmland, signaling a broader pattern of displacement pressure in the West Bank.
Why it matters
The siege shows how settler intimidation and limited army intervention are reshaping daily life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
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