Wadi Jehaish again

The grandfather bought around 25ha in 1946. The family grows cereals for their sheep and sells milk products.

The nearby settlement of Susya has been encroaching on the lands since its creation in 1987.

Now the sheep can only be taken 200 meters from the house. The whole area between the homestead and the settlement is now not accessible for grazing. Gradually, the family is reducing the herd - how can they live without their pastures? They currently run around 50 sheep.

This morning we tested this, taking the sheep towards the main road, on the land Ibrahim owns. A car passing on the road honked at us. "Your friends? " I asked Ibrahim's son. "Naah" he answered, "that road is forbidden to Palestinians" . Very soon 4 white pickups unloaded 8 soldiers (probably reservists). The fifty still-hungry sheep and ourselves were told to return to the village. We apparently pose a security threat to the Israeli road.

The fields should be sown over the next month. This will be impossible under these conditions.

Life is not just difficult for farmers. In most of Masafer Yatta, no-one dares leave their house for fear of settler attacks. The Zionist terror imposes a virtual curfew. You need to be off the roads before dark.

3 nights ago settlers attacked the house se we are staying in now, and hit Ibrahim. They said they would return and finish the job they started. The local activist network is doing its best to support the family.

One of the family members works as a nurse in the nearby city. He walks for 5kms morning and evening to reach a road where he can find transport. Like most civil servants in the West Bank, his salary has been reduced. The PA's funding has been cut and public sector workers only get 80% of their pay.