The army plans to expel 1,500-2,000 Palestinians from Fire Zone 918 in Masafer Yatta, claiming that they are not "permanent residents". Meanwhile, 11 illegal outposts have been established, with the army's support, within the same Fire Zone. In the West Bank, Fire Zones now cover nearly a million dunams, and their primary function seems to be training for one thing, which is how to expel Palestinians.
Last Tuesday (June 17, 2025), a document was circulated within the #IDF Central Command headquarters and it deserves close attention. Titled "Subject: Training Routine in Fire Zone 918", the two page memo, signed by Major Sari Saban, lays out in detail why it is needy to expel approximately 1,500-2,000 Palestinian residents that are living in an area that was first declared a military “Fire Zone” by Israel in the late 1971. Fire Zones, as a reminder, are always designated as "Closed Military Zones" where, according to the army, only "permanent residents" are permitted to remain. Pay attention to that term - "permanent residents" - we will return to it shortly.
Below are two short quotes from the document that clearly clarify its purpose: “Over the years, a phenomenon of widespread illegal construction has developed in the Fire Zone, which harms the training routine and the IDF's ability to prepare for war" (Section 2)..... "In recent months, the Central Command has been operating - using both civilian and military tools at its disposal in order to fulfill its duty - preserving the Fire Zone for the benefit of IDF training" (Section 3). Link to the full document in the comments.
Let us take a moment to recall what Fire Zone 918 actually is: It spans over nearly 33,000 dunams and is located at the southeastern edge of the West Bank. The area lies within what is historically known as "Masafer Yatta" meaning the agricultural hinterland of the town of Yatta. This broader region extends well beyond the boundaries of Fire Zone 918, and a significant portion of it now lies south of the Green Line, within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel.
In Masafer Yatta dozens of shepherd communities have lived for generations in what is called “khirbe”, meaning small hamlets of Yatta. This way of life was common all around Palestinian towns and villages throughout the country. The same thing happened here within the 33,000 dunams that the army declared as "Fire Zone 918", around 12 to 13 shepherd communities, historically connected to Yatta, have lived and worked the land for generations. These are the communities that the Central Command document, now targets for destruction and expulsion. And what is the justification the army offers? It refuses to recognize the residents as "permanent". For years, the state has invested enormous effort trying to prove that these villages are merely "seasonal encampments" and thus, in the army's view, they can expel them from Fire Zone 918.
On May 4, 2022, the High Court ruled that there was no justification to prevent the "evacuation" - meaning, expelling the Palestinian residents of the communities located within Fire Zone 918. The ruling was authored by the settler judge David Mintz, who was born and raised in England and immigrated to Israel - perhaps, among other reasons, so that one day he could authorize the expulsion of people from the very places where their grand-grandparents were born and lived. A stunning twist of irony - though over here, it goes by the name “Zionism”.
As expected, Mintz's ruling was hailed by his ideological allies, who viewed it as a major milestone in the broader effort to expel Palestinians from the area and transform it into a Jewish-only settlement area. Just as was done in other Fire Zones in the northern West Bank, where Palestinians were fully displaced. Indeed not too long after the ruling, the army began blocking roads and restricting movement in the area, in an effort to "encourage" residents to leave. "Voluntary Migration". Link to the post we published in November 2022 is in the comments.
In the years leading up to the court ruling, Israel continued mapping areas that had been looted since the early 1980s by declaring them as "state land". Past experience shows that such mapping typically signals an intent to eventually transfer the land to settlers. And indeed, while working on our latest report, “The Bad Samaritan” that was published in March of this year, we discovered that in 2019 and 2021, the Settlement Division allocated over 3,300 dunams of "state land" located inside Fire Zone 918 to two settlers for grazing purposes. Link to our post from May 2022, where we explained how and why this mapping was carried out, is in the comments.
At the same time, settlers established 11 outposts within Fire Zone 918. Nine of them were established between 2022 and 2024, and six of them after October 7, 2023. Strikingly, the Central Command document makes no mention of these outposts at all. Apparently, it is only the presence of Palestinians living in the area that disrupts the army's training. The outposts, established by violent and lawless settlers, are not only not disturbing, they function as paramilitary extensions that the army protects and supports.
The phenomenon of expelling Palestinians, as settlers take control over Fire Zones and establish outposts within them, is not unique to Fire Zone 918. Over the past decade, we have seen this pattern spread across the West Bank. One key example is Fire Zone 904A, located east of the villages of Aqraba and Beit Furik, which settlers have gradually managed to seize almost entirely since the late 1990s. Link to the post where we explained the settlers' model is in the comments.
As we explained in our report "A Locked Garden" which we published ten years ago, the army has left nearly 80% of the West Bank's Fire Zones unused for decades, effectively enabling settlers to expel the Palestinian residents who live there and to seize control of the land. This is not a new phenomenon, but it has gained renewed momentum since Avi Bluth's was appointed as the Apartheid commander. Link to the "A Locked Garden" report is in the comments.
This is exactly what is happening now in Fire Zone 203, west of #Ramallah, as we described in a post last March (link to the post is in the comments). This is exactly what is happening in Fire Zone 934, where settlers have recently begun establishing an outpost called "Beit Horon North", which the racist and corrupt government has already rushed to designate as a "new settlement".
#KeremNavot - Naboth’s Vineyard
Naboth’s Vineyard (Kerem Navot) is an Israeli NGO established in 2012, which monitors and carries out research on Israeli land policy in the #WestBank.
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Richard
in reply to bquirky • • •