Doha: Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, has sounded the alarm over the worsening humanitarian situation in Khirbet Um al-Khair and Masafer Yatta, amid a surge in settler violence, demolition orders, and measures threatening the imminent forced displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families.
According to Qatar News Agency, Friedrich noted that for several years, Palestine refugees in Khirbet Um al-Khair, a Bedouin community in the South Hebron Hills, have been subjected to persistent harassment and violence by settlers, in addition to home demolitions and administrative actions that have severely undermined their livelihoods. UNRWA continues to provide essential services to the community.
He added that tensions have escalated in recent days, with armed settlers repeatedly entering the community during both day and night, vandalizing property and attempting to extend the perimeter fence of a nearby settlement into Um al-Khair's land.
Friedrich further warned that neighboring Palestinian communities in the "Firing Zone 918" area of Masafer Yatta face imminent displacement, affecting approximately 200 families, some 1,200 people, including 500 children. He emphasized that these settlements are considered illegal under international law.
The UNRWA official stressed that, as the occupying power, Israel bears responsibility for protecting Palestinian communities from settler violence and holding perpetrators accountable.
He underscored that under international law, the demolition of private property and the forced displacement of civilians must cease. The rights of long-established Bedouin and herding communities to live in dignity and safety on their ancestral lands must be safeguarded.