Pogroms and ethnic cleansing in Khirbet al-Fakheit

In Khirbet al-Fakheit, Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, there are two overlapping processes: the long-term state-led coercive displacement — demolitions, the firing-zone regime, restrictions on construction and infrastructure; and the escalating settler campaign — raids, assaults, livestock theft, destruction, arson, intimidation and the establishment of an outpost immediately beside the community.

Masafer Yatta was largely designated by Israel as Firing Zone 918, ostensibly for military training. Historical documentation cited by the World Council of Churches says transcripts of a 1981 meeting show Ariel Sharon, then agriculture minister, requesting military training zones in Masafer Yatta with the aim of displacing Palestinian residents. This is the structural background to what happens at Fakheit: Palestinian construction is treated as illegal while the community remains exposed to military orders and, increasingly, nearby settlement/outpost expansion.

OCHA records several waves of demolitions and demolition orders in Masafer Yatta since 1999, including in communities outside the firing zone.

23 April 2014, Israeli authorities issued stop-work orders against a residence and an animal shelter in Khirbet al-Fakheit, inside Firing Zone 918.

7 March 2019, Israeli forces confiscated a residential tent in Khirbet al-Fakheit, displacing a family of three, including an infant.

2022, Israeli authorities demolished eight structures in Khirbet al-Fakheit, including homes, animal shelters and a water cistern. Five had previously been provided as humanitarian assistance. On May 4, 2022, the Israeli High Court rejected the residents' petition against eviction from the firing zone. This put approximately 1,144 residents of 12 Masafer Yatta communities, including 569 children, at imminent risk of forcible transfer.

Timeline of pogroms, settler violence and ethnic cleansing

11 May 2022: Israeli authorities demolished three residential and two livelihood structures in Khirbet al-Fakheit. The operation forcibly displaced people from the community. The UN later recorded the May demolitions in Fakheit and Mirkez as resulting in the forced eviction of 49 people, including 24 children.

1 June 2022: Dozens of Palestinians in Khirbet al-Fakheit and Mirkez had their homes demolished on 11 May and 1 June. UN documentation notes that for some residents, the June demolition was the third time they had lost their homes in less than a year. Across the two communities, Israeli authorities demolished nine donor-funded structures, displacing 38 people, including 16 children.

18 July 2022: A demolition order was issued against an animal shelter in Khirbet al-Fakheit.

Since 2024, settler pressure begins becoming much more visible

On November 9, 2024, Settlers invade Al-Fakhit school.The school itself was already under an extraordinary level of pressure: in December 2024 the Israeli High Court ruled that the Civil Administration could proceed toward demolition of the Al-Fakhit School, which served approximately 130 students and was described as the only high school in Masafer Yatta.

2025 — transition to systematic settler attacks

OCHA described the broader pattern in the Firing Zone 918 communities as involving near-daily intimidation, night raids, threats and property destruction, creating a coercive environment that pressured residents to leave.

On March 2, 2025, Settlers raided Khirbet al-Fakheit and Isfay al-Fauqa. They assaulted Palestinians with sticks, stones and pepper spray; injured four Palestinians across the two raids, including someone suffering fractures; brought their sheep onto Palestinian land; killed two Palestinian sheep; stole sheep and donkeys.

On May 20, 2025, a new settler outpost established near Fakheit. This is a major turning point. OCHA reported that armed settlers from a newly established outpost near Khirbet al-Fakheit: raided the schoolyard; stole six surveillance cameras; vandalized the drinking-water area; damaged irrigation pipes; broke into a Palestinian home; assaulted a man and his wife; stole the man's phone; poured an unknown substance into his vehicle's fuel tank.

In July 2025, masked settlers were circling homes at night on horseback, while residents organised night watches because they feared attacks. The Guardian documented the broader escalation and described how settler violence had sharply increased since 7 October 2023, while residents and researchers described the pressure as part of an ethnic-cleansing process.

On September 27, 2025, settlers entered Khirbet al-Fakheit, assaulted and injured a Palestinian woman and two international activists who were filming the intrusion, and broke their phones. They then forced their way into a fodder store and allowed their sheep to eat/destroy 40 sacks of fodder.

2026 — escalation into organized pogroms

On January 27, 2026, in a major coordinated pogrom, approximately 100 Israeli settlers simultaneously attacked four Masafer Yatta communities, including: Khirbet al-Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez and At-Taban. According to OCHA, settlers attacked residents with sticks fitted with knives; stole approximately 300 sheep; burned approximately three tonnes of firewood; vandalized homes and vehicles and physically assaulted six Palestinians, including a child and two women.

On February 24, 2026, Water infrastructure was attacked. ISM reported that settlers returned to Al-Fakheit and slashed a family's water pipes, leaving the community without access to water.

On February 25, 2026, a settler physically stand in front of a Palestinian civilian's vehicle to prevent access to their home, alongside footage documenting the continuing campaign to ethnically cleanse Masafer Yatta.

In February 2026, ISM also documented settlers beating an elderly Palestinian man and his wife and daughters with sticks, and a separate assault on two Palestinian shepherds while settlers attempted to take their sheep. One elderly man was left bleeding from his head.

On September 8, 2026, Israeli forces carried out a large demolition operation in the northern part of Khirbet al-Fakheit. Israeli forces demolished 10 homes, animal shelters, tin structures and sheds, sheep pens belonging to three families. They also assaulted residents; fired tear gas; destroyed water tanks; destroyed sanitation facilities; destroyed solar panels providing electricity and filled in a water well.

Several Palestinians reportedly suffered suffocation from tear gas.